Watch Your Child Become an Ocean Explorer

OceanWise is designed for ages 4 to 12, but the experience scales naturally. Ages 4 to 6 do best with a parent nearby to help with the gluing steps; ages 7 to 12 can usually build independently. The STEAM booklet works across all ages. Younger kids love the illustrations and fun facts, while older kids engage with the conservation science.

Always in order, starting at Issue One. Your first box is the Green Sea Turtle, your second is the Great White Shark, your third is the Giant Pacific Octopus, and so on through the twelve-animal collection. It works this way no matter what month you join, so nobody starts in the middle of the story. You can't choose a different starting animal, and if you cancel and come back later, you pick up exactly where you left off.

Nothing extra required. Each box includes the pre-cut wooden pieces and the educational booklet. For decorating, use whatever you already have at home, paint, markers, colored pencils, or crayons. We intentionally leave art supplies out so every child's creation is uniquely their own.

Assembly takes 20 to 40 minutes. Decorating varies enormously by child, and that's the part we can't predict. In our own testing at home, some kids finish in half an hour and others disappear into it for an entire afternoon. The booklet is designed to be read more than once, so the box usually keeps giving after the craft is done.

Yes. All wood is sustainably sourced and non-toxic. The craft is designed to be assembled with standard white school glue (like Elmer's), which most families already have at home. No hazardous materials, no sharp tools, no mess beyond normal craft-table cleanup.

The first fifty subscribers. We cut every craft and print every booklet in small batches, and our first production run is fifty boxes, so that's genuinely how many we can fulfill well. Founding members get their price locked for as long as their subscription stays active, a numbered card in their first box, and a listing on our Founding 50 page if they want one. When the fifty are claimed, the next wave opens as soon as our next production run is confirmed.

Boxes ship once a month, by the 15th. Join by the last day of a month and your first box ships by the 15th of the next month. Monthly subscribers pay at signup, then are billed monthly on the day they joined, and each payment covers the box that ships by the 15th of the following month. Annual subscribers pay once upfront and receive a box by the 15th of each month for twelve months. Shipping is free anywhere in the US via USPS Ground Advantage, and you'll get a tracking email for every box.

Yes, anytime, with no fees. Log into your account, go to subscription settings, and skip a month, pause up to 3 months, or cancel entirely. Just make changes before your next billing date. No phone calls required. Annual plans deliver all twelve issues you paid for, then renew automatically at the same founding price unless you cancel. We email you a reminder before any renewal charge. Annual payments are non-refundable once the first box ships, which is how we're able to offer the lower per-issue price.

No. Add a craft for each extra child to your existing plan instead. Each extra craft is $8.99 a month if the kids are happy sharing one booklet, or $12.99 a month with a booklet of their own. Just choose the quantity, one per extra child. Everything arrives in the same mailer on the same day, which is why it costs far less than another subscription. You can add or remove a sibling from your account at any time.

KiwiCo builds science gadgets. OceanWise makes keepsakes, wooden pieces your child paints and displays rather than sets aside. Our ocean-specific focus means every issue teaches real marine biology through the booklet, not generic STEM, and the collection runs in order so it adds up to something over a year. And 5% of every subscription goes toward protecting coral reefs, so every box gives back to the ocean it celebrates.