The Mass Box Review

This post may contain affiliate links for your shopping convenience. View our full disclosure policy HERE. Thank you to The Mass Box for sponsoring this post.  While I did receive compensation in exchange for a review, all opinions are my own and I only endorse products I love.

When I was first contacted to write a review for The Mass Box, I was SO excited. Just days before that I had learned about Hello Bible, which provides a monthly box with a Bible story and craft for kids. I loved the concept (monthly subscription) and then I heard about The Mass Box which is the same idea only the crafts and readings go along with the liturgical year so they are the readings the kids would be hearing at church. A Catholic subscription box that helps my kids to understand what they are hearing in Mass through a cute and quick craft, ummm yes please!  Sign us up.  My girls love crafts and I am always looking for ways to teach them about the faith that are at their level yet meaningful.

For my review, The Mass Box sent me the Lent pack. It included crafts that were individually packaged with the supplies and directions.  There were also additional coloring pages related to the readings.  

Part way through Lent they switched and started making their own magazine to go in the box. Since I didn't really use the Mass Box before the magazine I don't have anything to compare it to, but I LOVE the addition of the magazine. It is full color and includes the first reading, second reading, responsorial psalm and gospel reading for each Sunday.  Then there are step by step directions for the craft, pictures of the completed craft, discussion questions and teaching points plus a coloring page for each week.  This was super helpful to me because I am such a visual learner.

I read through the directions without seeing a picture of the finished product and it is just hard for me to visualize what I need to do.  With the Sacrifice Beads craft, it wasn't included in the magazine they sent me, but they have another SUPER helpful resource.  They film a video of each craft and call it Catholic Crafts with Clare. I watched the video on YouTube and quickly knew what the sacrifice bead craft was supposed to look like.  It was so easy!

The videos are really cute and real footage of the family who created this awesome product. Clare gives real kid responses and I appreciate the honesty and the fact that it is real things a kid would say and do and not some perfect scripted video.  It is real and I love that.  It is also super helpful to show you how to make the crafts.

We had so many options of crafts to try, but our favorite one was the Paschal candle.  My 5 year old has learned about the Paschal candle during Catechesis of the Good Shepherd that she goes to during Mass so she was very excited to try this.  I watched the video ahead of time and then read through the directions in the magazine with her.  All of the supplies that we needed came in the box except a hairdryer and some water and paper towel.

I heated up the wax with the hair dryer while my daughter rolled the candle. It started to crack in one spot so I just heated it a little more and we kept rolling.

Next we used the water transfer decal with the image of the cross (included) on it.  We set it on the candle and then covered it with wet paper towel for a minute.  After that, my daughter added the push pins to the points of the cross.

 As she was making this, we used the discussion questions and I explained a little about the Paschal candle to her. It was quick and easy and she was so excited with what she had made.

What I Love about The Mass Box

-All the supplies are included (except for a few things you'd have at your house like water, scissors, markers but it tells you exactly what you will need from home)

-The supplies are packaged for each week so you don't need to go digging to find out what you need

-The directions are simple and show pictures of the complete project

-There are videos to watch that are all around 5 minutes that show how to do the craft with an actual child

-The readings are printed in the magazine so you don't have to look them up and read them on your own

-Discussion questions are included along with hints and notes to help with the teaching part 

-It is designed for ages 4-8 so it is perfect for my girls to start now and grow into

-It aligns with the readings we hear in church each Sunday so we can prepare our girls for what they will hear in Mass that week or teach them about what they missed while they were at Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (which is held during Mass at their level)

-They offer sibling boxes so if you have more than one child and need multiple copies of the crafts, you don't have to pay for a separate box for each of them

-You can order each month individually or do 3 months or an entire year and get a discount for paying up front

I am so excited that I know about this company.  My kids love doing crafts but I don't always have the time to come up with a craft and gather the supplies, let alone pull the weekly readings in order to teach them about the faith.  With The Mass Box, the work has been done for me and I can just spend the time doing the readings, craft and discussion with my kids.  This will make such a great addition to our weekend family time.  

I plan to put this on our wishlist for the girls' birthday and Christmas. I struggle to come up with gift ideas that don't equal more stuff in our house.  This would be a perfect gift from their grandparents. Something meaningful we can use each week that provides us crafts and fun and supports us in being the first teachers of the Faith to our kids.

Do you want to try out The Mass Box?  If you enter the code: SARA10 at checkout, you get 10% off of your first order.

But that's not it....I have a free month of the Mass Box to give away to one of my readers.  Yay!!!!! To enter the giveaway just use the rafflecopter below.  It will ask you to sign up for my Catholic newsletter as your entry.  Just leave your email address that you signed up with and you will be entered.  The giveaway ends Tuesday, May 23 so enter now and I will contact the winner by email with the code for their free box.

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