TOS Review - Box of Ideas

Box of Ideas (Ideally Dynamic Enrichment Activities) is a company that has engaging topics of study that come in a box with multiple activities. For the purposes of this review we received The Salt Box as a pdf.



Each box is designed as a supplement to your curriculum or a stand alone topic to study. The website states that their product "can also be used for homeschool group activity, summertime learning, and as a break from the normal routine". Every box of ideas contains at least 10 modules of learning for the topic chosen and is recommended for students 9 - 16 years of age. Currently available topics include:

• Pigs
• World War II
• World War II Pearl Harbor 
• Eleven
• Salt
• Quilting
• Laundry

Topics that are coming soon include:

• Mystery
• World War II Kitchen
• World War II Innovations
• Olives
• Pine
• Cemeteries

I would say these are some pretty eclectic and interesting topics to study.

As I mentioned earlier, The Salt Box was sent to us as a pdf for review. Salt is something that children see or taste every day in their lives, but probably know very little about where it comes from, how it nourishes our body, and the history of it for trade. The modules included for The Salt Box are: 

1. The History of Salt
2. The Science of Salt
3. The Salt March
4. The Salt of the Earth
5. Need for Salt
6. Preserving with Salt
7. The Wall that Salt Built
8. Where Salt Lives
9. The Language of Salt

As you can see from the above modules, each academic subject is touched on with the chosen topic. Each module will have a quote, a few paragraphs of information specific to the topic and module, extension activities to learn more, weblinks, questions, and activities. Most activities in our unit were games and matching items. "If all the printing, cutting, and assembling is not your idea of fun, you can order our complete, ready to use Salt Box of Ideas", for $79.00. I want to reiterate that we reviewed the pdf format, not the physical box. The pdf download sells for $49.00.

How We Used It and What We Thought
We choose to use two modules a week. I thought that all the materials were researched well and laid out for easy understanding. Our favorite modules were Need for Salt, Preserving with Salt, Too Much Salt, Where Salt Lives, and The Language of Salt. I didn't mind cutting, pasting and assembling all the cards for the different games. Our favorite game was the salt trivia game found in the preserving module. I had extra dice and player pieces around without having to purchase anything extra. All graphics in the study are of high quality, and I found the pictures of Salt lakes to be quite beautiful. I feel this product is high quality and would recommend it. The random topics of each box are topics that are really not found elsewhere. The only con I really have might be the price. For a pdf I would personally be a little hesitant in spending $49.00. On that same note the pdf is very full of information, activities, and graphics (almost an inch of paper was included).

Graphics of salt lakes that I cut and made into cards are included

To see what other TOS reviewers thought about this product, go to TOS Review Crew.

Disclaimer: As  member of the TOS Review Crew, I received this product at no cost to me in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are mine.