National Geographic Kids Magazine

I always say you can never have enough reading material around for your kids. I guess that is how I justify all these magazine subscriptions we have. I decided not to renew several of my magazines this year, but did decide to pick up a few, and one of them was National Geographic Little Kids, and I got a year of it (6 issues) for $15. This magazine is aimed at kids ages 3-6, and since I have 2 in that range and 1 is an aspiring veterinarian (or at least at the moment she is), I figured this was a good magazine to have. This magazine is recommended for ages 3-6.

So, we are at the halfway point on our subscription, and here s the dish on it from the latest issue (March/April 2008):

The magazine itself measures about 6 in. x 6 in., and it has the yellow border around the edge like other National Geographic magazines. The word kids in the title is also done in yellow, and then in a yellow square to the right you ll see a lion cub with his paw raised waving to you. The magazine is only 23 pages in length.

The front of this month s issue is really cute- it has a small rabbit eating greens on it- and the featured story is called Rabbit Roundup . I must mention here that the magazine is made out of really nice, high quality paper that has a bit of gloss to it, and it is pretty durable and doesn t get ruffled up in the mail like some of our other ones do.

Upon opening it, you ll see the first Q & A section called Why? and this month it explains why flamingos are pink- which is because of the food they eat.

Next, there is a little section called Rhyme Time which will have three pictures along with a few sentences, and you ll have to pick the picture that rhymes with the last word of the sentence.

The Sorting Section has 4 sets of pictures, and you have to pick which one of the items in the pictures is different and why.

The Naming article has 9 small pictures and you name what they are.

The next article is the featured Rabbit Roundup which has some great pictures of different types of rabbits, and tells how they run and hop so fast.

Then, you have a little activity page where you find all of the 12 hidden rabbits in the picture. After that, you then have a Nature article which is about spring flowers, and then a Cultures article which tells about different types of kites around the world.

The Letter Game section is a picture that has a list of words beside it, and you find the items in the picture. This month was a playground scene, and all the words started with s- shoes, sky, sun, slide, snail, swing and so on. You then have a maze on the next page.

You next have a Science Experiment article, and this month it is about raw and hard boiled eggs and if you spin the eggs and stop it and it spins again by itself, then it is a raw egg.

The last article is Match The Bugs which um, you match pictures of bugs.
Oh and I also need to mention the pull out cards! You get six animal cards that are about the size of baseball cards, with the same yellow edge as the front cover. They have great pictures, and a gloss to them as well, and the backs have facts about each animal.

Experience:

I think kids younger than 3 would enjoy the pictures of this magazine! But, gosh $15 for 6 issues really isn t economically feasible, when other magazines such as Ranger Rick, which is also non-fiction, cost $19 a year for 12 issues. I realize that non fiction books and magazines cost a little more to make, but gee, $15 for six 23 page issues? Eh.

My kids really enjoy this magazine though, and my youngest really likes the cards- last month had a parrot one and she carried it around for several days and kept saying parrot! It really doesn t take long to get through a magazine, the articles are pretty short and to the point and don t have any hard language that you feel like you need a PhD to read. My oldest can read the articles on her own. But, on the downside of it being short, well, once it s read it s over, and it leaves my kids wanting for more.

Overall, this magazine is pretty enjoyable, and it has great pictures and is made very well. My kids enjoy the articles and my oldest gets in some reading practice, but the price is a little turn off for me. I do recommend this if you don t mind the price, but I won t be renewing our subscription when it comes due- we like a variety of magazines anyway, and the price and the length of the magazine is a turn off for me. Plus, my kids are getting older and like longer books and magazines. I d really recommend this for kids around 0-4 years old- any older and they can breeze through the book in all of 10 minutes- I really think it s a better value for non-readers.