Jump to content

Menu

Need kids magazine subscription suggestions....


BatmansWife
 Share

Recommended Posts

My youngest is 7. Today I received an item in the mail that I purchased from eBay. The seller added an extra book and 3 ZooBooks magazines. The magazines, although not very lengthy, seem nice. I'm now thinking of getting my daughter a subscription to something, maybe even ZooBooks. I have yet to check out their website, which I will do after posting this. When my older kids were younger they had gotten gift subscriptions to Your Big Backyard. I really don't know what else is available to choose from. I want it to be educational, colorful, and something she'll like. Also, I want a fairly reasonable price. So, throw some ideas at me people! :001_smile:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here are a few that we've enjoyed. I guess it depends on what would interest your daughter most.

 

Nature's Friend

National Geographic Kids

God's World News

Highlights magazines

Highlights clubs

NWF's Ranger Rick

 

Also, you might check at your local library. We've pretty much stopped all our subscriptions because my children can check out a wide variety of magazines at our local library branch.

 

HTH!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son has National Geographic and flips through it but doesn't seem really excited by it. However, we happened upon some free issues of Kids Discover Magazine. He loves it and reads it cover to cover. It doesn't have all the advertisements the NG does, and one issue just delves deeply into one topic. If we were going to do another subscription, I would definitely go with this one for my ds.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son has National Geographic and flips through it but doesn't seem really excited by it. However, we happened upon some free issues of Kids Discover Magazine. He loves it and reads it cover to cover. It doesn't have all the advertisements the NG does, and one issue just delves deeply into one topic. If we were going to do another subscription, I would definitely go with this one for my ds.

 

this one looks great...I just asked our library if they would get it for a year...I couldn't tell though...is it 12 issues a year...or less than that??

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i LOVE zoobooks, here is a zoobooks deal that is running right now:

 

https://shop.zoobooks.com/EO_LandingPage.aspx?tid=51&aid=J5C01A&pid=hol2for1

 

my kids are getting subscriptions to a couple of carus publishing magazines from family. i like them quite a bit because we can switch our subscription to another of their magazines with no penalty during the subscription period.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

this one looks great...I just asked our library if they would get it for a year...I couldn't tell though...is it 12 issues a year...or less than that??

 

i think it is 9 or 10 issues a year. and they are very small, about half the size of other kids magazines for the same price. but great, dd reads these at the dentist.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all so much for your suggestions. I looked at all of the links given and looked up the ones that weren't linked. Some I decided against because of either price, too much ads in them, and some were a little too advanced for my dd (a young 7 year old who is still learning to read). I considered Zootles; the younger version of ZooBooks...but then I saw that it's only 6 issues a year. :tongue_smilie: So, we made a final decision, and she helped choose. She absolutely LOVED the sample magazine for Your Big Backyard. I got a year subscription on eBay for only $10.00. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We love the National Geographic Kids and actually all of the National Geographic magazines...

I had a book business for a while and sold magazines as a part of it, so I still have my magazine side of the business. I sell them cheap (usually cheaper than are on ebay) to friends and family. I can extend that here if there is any interest. I am not home right now, but will post a list of a few popular ones on the for sale list...

 

Example: American Girl and Boys Life are less than $10 (I have to look them up for exact prices)

Many mom magazines (Rachel Ray, Whole Living, Home and Garden, etc) are around $5-8

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Two ways you can get better deals than it initially appears:

 

EBates has rebates through magazines.com ; right now it is 26% back, but a few times this month it's been 51% back, so (if you wait a few months for the ebate rebate to come through) it ends up being 1/2 priced. This makes Ask/Click and the others ones from Carus Publishing much more affordable. Magazines.com does occasionally send out coupons as well, although usually they are for only specific magazines.

 

Also if you get on the mailing list for some of these magazines, there are specials. NWF (which publishes Ranger Rick and Your Big Backyard) has had 2 years for the price of 1, and also one year for $15 specials (they're running this one this week).

Edited by stripe
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My son has National Geographic and flips through it but doesn't seem really excited by it. However, we happened upon some free issues of Kids Discover Magazine. He loves it and reads it cover to cover. It doesn't have all the advertisements the NG does, and one issue just delves deeply into one topic. If we were going to do another subscription, I would definitely go with this one for my ds.

 

:iagree:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really dislike National Geographic for Kids. Some of the articles are ok, but in general it's more advertisement and pop culture than actual educational content. And people keep giving us gift subscriptions to it!

 

My kids do enjoy it, though. I just don't think it's the best option out there for an educational magazine, and not a good option for a family attempting to limit media exposure.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I really dislike National Geographic for Kids. Some of the articles are ok, but in general it's more advertisement and pop culture than actual educational content. And people keep giving us gift subscriptions to it!

 

 

My 9yo dd has this same complaint. She really dislikes the movie ads and tie ins, but does like the articles.

 

She and my 7yo enjoy many of the other magazines mentioned:

Ranger Rick

Big Backyard

Gods World News

Highlights

 

and also Birds and Blooms. Birds and Blooms is for adults, but both of my girls like it.

 

Also, Chickadee was very popular here!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

When mine were younger, we all really liked My Big Backyard and Ranger Rick, both by the National Wildlife Federation. They didn't use to have as many advertisements as National Geo Kids and some others have....

They don't have any ads, actually, the NWF ones.

 

I was curious about Chickadee.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Recently I went to a science convention and was THOROUGHLY impressed with their National Geographic Explorer educational magazines. THese are NOT the NG Kids mags that you see at the library or have delivered at home. They are the education ones. They have fantastic photos and content. They are tremendously engaging but inform like a textbook. There are several levels k-1, 2-4, and a higher level or 2 than that. The catch is that you can only order them in bulk, and only for the school year starting in Sept. It is too late to get them for this year. My 4 and 6 yo have loved the 2-4 one. It is only $40 for 10 subscriptions though, and I think it may be possible to split that up to a few of each level. Not sure though. I might go in on it with a friend or 2 next year. There are no ads and no silly stuff like the home-delivery NG Kids mags :ack2: I did just subscribe to Ranger Rick--they seem bettter than most and have a greater variety of topics in each issue than zoobooks seems to have.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've never subscribed to it, but when my younger son was a baby, someone gave him a subscription to Wild Animal Baby (the little tyke version of My Big Backyard, etc.)

 

It was in a sort of board book format, with thicker cardstock type pages, so more sturdy, and smaller, like a book. He carried them around EVERYWHERE with him. They were his constant companions.

 

I kept the entire set for him when I put away his baby things. I don't think I was able to take them off his shelves until he was 6 or 7 because he still read them. And they are still in good shape, too.

 

http://www.nwf.org/Kids/Wild-Animal-Baby.aspx

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a tip about Wild Animal Baby (and Baby Bug, which has the same sturdy format, but is published by Carus, the ones who do Click and Ladybug) -- I've found some nice ones at library book sales and thrift stores. I paid about 50c for each copy. They hold up really well and I found that price more palatable given the small size than paying for my own subscription.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is the age range for American Girls magazine? I'm assuming that it doesn't have articles about "liking boys" and stuff like that? I recently came across an ad for a magazine targeted at ages 8+ and it had articles about that in it. I thought "um, no!"

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What is the age range for American Girls magazine? I'm assuming that it doesn't have articles about "liking boys" and stuff like that? I recently came across an ad for a magazine targeted at ages 8+ and it had articles about that in it. I thought "um, no!"
Oh, no, definitely no boy-crazy stuff at all! It's a sweet-girly magazine with a craft, art, recipe, and service to others focus. My dd told me there is an advice section but there's never questions like, "My mom won't let me date..." They are more like, "My mom wants me to keep my room clean, but I'm having a hard time -- help!"

 

I'd sum the AG mag up as good, clean, fun for girls. :thumbup:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Oh, no, definitely no boy-crazy stuff at all! It's a sweet-girly magazine with a craft, art, recipe, and service to others focus. My dd told me there is an advice section but there's never questions like, "My mom won't let me date..." They are more like, "My mom wants me to keep my room clean, but I'm having a hard time -- help!"

 

I'd sum the AG mag up as good, clean, fun for girls. :thumbup:

 

Thank you. I, too, was wondering about this.

 

FWIW, I just subscribed to Zoobooks for dd. I bought a couple back issues from RR and love it. She is a HUGE animal lover, though. ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 11 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...