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Problems · 5 min read · Updated September 2026
STEM kits that don't fill your house
Subscription boxes have a storage problem nobody mentions at checkout. Here is the maths, and the way around it.
The subscription model has an unspoken cost. Every month, by design, something new arrives. After a year you have twelve finished projects, twelve sets of packaging and a cupboard that has quietly become a graveyard of half-played-with science.
The one-year picture, by brand
- KiwiCo - around twelve assembled cardboard, wood and foam models. The highest accumulation here, and the least durable.
- CrunchLabs - twelve durable mechanical toys. Better, because they actually get played with, but they are still twelve objects.
- Little Passports - twelve kits, heavy on booklets, maps and stickers. Bulky in a different way.
- MEL Science - the reagents are consumed, so accumulation is moderate, but equipment and packaging build up.
- ibrick - one kit, one tray. Nothing further ships; the new content arrives through the app.
If you are staying with a monthly box
Two things genuinely help. Photograph finished builds before dismantling them - most children are far more attached to the record than the object. And set the expectation at the start that builds come apart after a fortnight, rather than negotiating it each time.
Not sure which of these is yours?
Five questions about your child and your house. Two minutes, no email, no account.
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