| Looking for something special for your kids this year? | | | | simplified versions with bigger pictures and fewer |
| One of the hottest new kid gift ideas this holiday | | | | words. Your younger readers can learn about |
| season is a magazine subscription. Magazines, always | | | | seasonal crafts and find simple cooking recipes in |
| a staple with adults, have been moving into the | | | | Your Big backyard, follow their favorite sports teams |
| children's markets in droves. Where once there were | | | | with Sports Illustrated for Kids and learn about the |
| a couple of magazines aimed at children, there are | | | | world at large with National Geographic Kids, or |
| now dozens to choose from, and they're aimed at | | | | Discovery Girls magazine. Teen girls can now read |
| kids in every age group with all sorts of interests. | | | | Cosmo Girl, a slightly bolder cousin to Seventeen and |
| When I was growing up in the 60s, there was | | | | TEEN, that aims to address the issues that girls really |
| essentially one children's magazine - Highlights for | | | | care about, even when their parents wish they didn't |
| Children. As you got older, there were a few more | | | | Other new entries into the children's' magazine |
| choices aimed at teens and very gender specific - if | | | | market are Nickelodeon magazine, complete with |
| you were a boy, someone was bound to get you a | | | | interesting facts, celebrity interviews, comics, |
| subscription to Boys' Life, especially if you were a | | | | pull-outs, puzzles, activities, and the inside look into |
| Boy Scout. If you were a girl, you had a wider choice | | | | Nick TV. National Wildlife Federation publishes a line of |
| - Seventeen for the "fashionista" (long before the | | | | magazines for kids of all ages, including Wild Animal |
| term was coined) and Teen for us "regular girls". Of | | | | Babies for toddlers, Your Big Backyard for |
| course, the biggest category of magazines aimed at | | | | preschoolers through the primary grades and Ranger |
| teen girls was the fanzines - Tiger Beat and their ilk, | | | | Rick for kids 7 and up. The publishers of Cricket, |
| featuring interviews with the hot boys and gatefold | | | | aimed at 9 to 14 year olds, also offer BabyBug, a |
| posters of our favorite boy bands and teen | | | | sturdy cardboard magazine just for babies so that |
| heartthrobs. | | | | now, even the littlest camper in the house has his or |
| Of course, there was Scholastic Magazine, delivered | | | | her own magazine for reading. |
| to classrooms around the country for use in | | | | And then there are the special interest magazines, |
| education about current events, but that hardly | | | | most aimed at children in the 8 to 16 year old age |
| counted because, well, it might as well have been a | | | | group. There are magazines for young horse lovers, |
| textbook. Other than that, magazines aimed | | | | for anime collectors and video game enthusiasts, for |
| specifically at the children and youth market were | | | | cheerleaders and gymnasts - if there's a special |
| relatively rare - which may account for the longevity | | | | interest, there is probably a magazine that addresses |
| of the good children's magazines - Boys' Life has | | | | it. Young writers have a choice of magazines that are |
| been around since 1911, and Highlights for Children | | | | written "by kids for kids", such as New Moon, a |
| almost qualifies for the senior citizen discount. | | | | magazine that features reader submissions from |
| Over the last twenty years or so, the face of | | | | young girls. |
| children's magazines has completely changed. These | | | | The old standbys are still at the top of the lists, but |
| days, whatever your children's interests, there's | | | | there are dozens of new titles from which you can |
| probably a magazine aimed directly at them. There | | | | choose. Magazine subscriptions for kids are among |
| are magazines for every age group, from six months | | | | the smartest gifts you can give - for a birthday, |
| old on up. The older your children are the wider your | | | | holiday or other special occasion. It's a great way to |
| choice of magazines is that they might like. The best | | | | encourage regular reading for the kids that you love, |
| part about the explosion of magazines aimed at | | | | and give them an easy way to keep up on news, |
| children is that most magazines for children are high | | | | information, trends and events in their favorite |
| quality, with slick production values and very well | | | | worlds. If you're not sure what to get a child on your |
| written and researched articles. | | | | gift list this holiday season, take a look at the |
| Many of them are adjuncts to an adult version of | | | | growing list of monthly magazines aimed at children. A |
| the same publication - and while you can be certain | | | | subscription to a quality magazine aimed at kids can |
| that the motive for their existence is to serve as a | | | | open the doors to a lifetime of learning and fun. |
| funnel for the adult publication, they are not simply | | | | |