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I'm looking into getting a few magazine subscriptions for some friends kiddo's. They are ages 9 months, 3.5, 8.5 and almost 11. All girls except for the 8.5 year old. I'm torn between National Geographic for Kids, Ranger Rick, Ranger Rick Jr and Highlights or a combination of all of the above. Any parents out there have any preference or experience with any of those? Any other suggestions that aren't just toys/toys/toys?!? I'm going for the wear/want/need/read theme for them this year. Obviously the baby doesn't read, but they have a highlights now for 0-2 years (who knew) the older girl LOVES to read, the 3.5 year old loves to 'pretend' read and the boy is tortured by the mere thought....but I'm sticking with my plan :-) Thanks in advance!!
There are some great mags for 'tween girls like the 11 year old. I would just stick with educational mags. A 9 month old would have no interest in a mag other than chewing at one.
For the 8 year old, what about Highlights?
I don't know about the 3 year old --- maybe check out a magazine stand in a store like Wal Mart. They have tons of magazines and you might be able to find something suitable.
Nat Geo is a great one as a family subscription for all the kids.
Check out Girls Life or Discovery Girls for the 11 year old. If she's into fashion, you might even consider Teen Vogue ($10 a year or less)
Discover Kids has been good in the past - don't know about recently. I don't recommend getting fashion mags for girls, because they feature very thin models, and may trigger anorexia.
The problem with Highlights is that the content is more for young kids. By the time the kid can read it to him/herself, they're usually too mature for the content.
We still get Nat Geo, but I'm really not too thrilled with it. Tons of ads, short on content. If I were paying for it, I'd cancel it.
There is a Sports Illustrated kids version - maybe the boy would be tempted to read that?
Check out cricketmag.com. They publish several "wholesome" magazines for kids.
Cricket and highlights are good. I think the kids had nat geo wild or some nat geo kids type and read it cover to cover.
I'd get the 9 month old a book to chew on
Edit to add, yeah a toddler mag might be good. I had one kid at 9 months who loved me to read anything and everything to him. And one who just liked to rip it and run off.
When I worked at justice we carried J-14 and Tiger Beat, those are pretty tween oriented. I was 12/13 when I started to get seventeen and cosmogirl, there were a few others I threw in too but those two I got the most.
We did the Zoobooks series for several years. They have different levels for different ages (Zoobies, Zootles, Zoobooks). The baby one (Zoobies) is like a board book. There are often discounts on these, ie Groupon.
My 8 year old now gets the American Girl magazine (gifted to her), which she does like, but I think she's still a little young for it.
I used to like Highlights when I was a kid, but neither of my kids are into it at all.
My almost-12-year old daughter used to like American Girl, but now says it is too young for her. She likes Discovery Girls and Kiki.
I had a subscription to Cricket for many years as a child, and I loved it! I saved all the issues, because they were that good. I never subscribed for my own kids, but they have read all my old copies.
The Cricket publishing company has good magazines for all ages. I recommend Babybug for the little one and Ladybug for the 3-year-old. We loved those. For the 8-year-old, Click is very good (science oriented), or Spider (more literary).
My son also liked National Geographic Kids when he was 8-9. I recall Ranger Rick and Highlights being more for the 4-7 range. My kids liked Ranger Rick, but not so crazy about Highlights.
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