An EEG device strapped to a child’s head tells the story faster than any sales pitch. The readout while the child watches an iPad is quiet, almost flat. The readout while the same child plays with a brand new, never-before-seen toy from CrunchLabs lights up across the creative regions of the brain. That visual contrast is the premise behind Mark Rober’s latest product: Creative Kit.
Why Rober spent two years building something that has nothing to do with engineering
Rober has run creative engineering content on his YouTube channel for over 14 years. His subscription boxes, Build Box and Hack Pack, already cover the hands-on building and robotics sides of that equation. But after years of watching kids engage with those products, Rober identified a gap: neither box targeted the creative thinking that has to happen before any build begins. That gap became the reason for Creative Kit.
To fill it properly, CrunchLabs partnered with Dr. Adam Green from Georgetown University, described as one of the leading experts on creativity. According to Dr. Green’s research, creativity is not an innate trait. It is a skill that can be learned the same way a child learns math or reading. That finding, drawn from 20 years of study, became the scientific foundation of the product. After two years of development, Creative Kit became the result.
A squirrel named anything you want and a town that belongs to no one else
The first box introduces a squirrel. While Rober’s own backyard companion was Fat Gus, described as hungry, sleepy, and forgiving, the squirrel in Creative Kit has no predetermined personality. That is entirely the child’s job. Once the squirrel exists, the child builds it a treehouse home and then customizes that treehouse using options included in the box. Rober’s own version featured a large pantry for walnut storage positioned next to a napping hammock, a direct reflection of Fat Gus’s known priorities.
Each subsequent month adds a new location to a growing town. An ice cream stand prompts kids to invent entirely new ice cream flavors. A dinosaur museum includes tiny dinosaur skeletons that can be excavated and then x-rayed. An aquarium invites kids to create original squishy sea creatures to populate it. The town’s name, its layout, and every design choice inside it come from the child. According to CrunchLabs, no two towns will be identical because no two imaginations are.
The EEG comparison Rober uses to demonstrate the product measures three states: a brain watching an iPad, a brain working through a coloring book, and a brain engaged with Creative Kit. The coloring book registers more activity than the iPad. Creative Kit registers more than both. Rober describes the effect as weightlifting for the brain’s creative muscles, with the idea that repeated use makes creative thinking feel progressively more natural and accessible.
Creator Salish Monster also appears alongside Rober in the Creative Kit content, working through builds and encouraging kids to act on their ideas rather than second-guess them.
Fat Gus made it into the product pitch, and then apparently fell asleep
Midway through demonstrating how Creative Kit connects to the broader CrunchLabs lineup, Rober checks on something off to the side. The squirrel, apparently present during filming, has fallen asleep again. ‘Again?’ is the only response.
Back at the EEG readout, the flat line from the iPad session sits next to the bright, active trace from the Creative Kit session. Creative Kit is positioned as the prequel to the Build Box and Hack Pack trilogy, the box that teaches kids to dream up what to build before they ever pick up a tool. The product is available at crunchlabs.com and is designed for ages 6 to 106, according to CrunchLabs.
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This article was reported in June 2026.
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