The Magazine For The Outdoor Family

Boys' Life is the one magazine that everyone in my house reads - even my 9 year old daughter. It is the unofficial Boy Scout magazine but there are features for everyone in a family that enjoys the outdoors. We have even started cataloging them in the computer because we found ourselves flipping through stacks of them before a camping trip to decide on some activities to plan at camp.



Boys' Life has several features in every issue:

Hitchin Rack- Hitchin Rack is a question and answer section where kids can send in questions to Pedro the Mailburro.

Think & Grin- Think & Grin is a section of jokes, riddles and brain twisters that kids send in.

Outdoor Adventure- In every issue there is a story and pictures from an outdoor adventure. Some past adventures are reef diving, sea camp (on a submarine) and a trip to McMurdo Station in Antarctica.

Fictional Story- Each issue has a fictional story that has an outdoor theme. This months story is titled The Midnight Man and is about two boys who are brave enough to camp in the woods where an 8 foot monster lurks.

Sports- Every month there is a different story about an athlete that deserves to be a role model. I am particularly grateful for this section because these usually aren't the players that are in the news or on tv all the time. They are the ones who should be looked up to not only for their talent but also for their acts as community leaders. Since my kids all enjoy sports, I'm happy that they get to hear about players that I would actually like them to aspire to.

Codemaster- This page is dedicated to secret codes. Each month there is a new code to try out with friends and families. We have lots of fun leaving each other secret messages all over the house. We have also adapted these to use on camping trips as a treasure hunt of sorts. We pair up a child and an adult and each pair is given a hint in the code to go somewhere. When they get there they will find another clue written in the code, etc. The pair that finds the treasure first, wins it. The treasure is usually something that can be used on the trip, like an exceptionally cool water bottle.

Outdoor Tips or Activity- This includes either an activity you can do on an outdoor trip or tips for a specific kind of trip and it is correlated to the time of year. This month's activity was making snowshoes. We made these planning to use them on our next ski trip but got lucky and it actually snowed a decent amount here a few weeks ago and we were able to try them out. They actually worked great! Past things in this section include making trail mix, fishing tips and survival techniques if you get lost.

Comics- Five to ten pages of each issue are dedicated to a variety of comics. There is always a Pedro page but the others really vary. Last July there was one about the founding fathers and at Christmas there was one about Scrooge.

Gear Advice- Each issue picks a piece of gear and gives advice about it. They cover things that range from price to which type should be used in a certain situation. I like this section because it is from the angle of buying gear for kids or trips that involve kids. Most outdoor magazines don't offer much about use by children in their gear reviews so this is a great feature for parents.



Each issue also has unique things ranging from crafts to history to game reviews to homework advice to cool websites. As an example - this month's issue has a story about how the slaves using the Underground Railroad used songs, stars and other secret ways to guide each other to freedom, a short biography about Satchel Paige, a large section on cold weather camping, how to be a ventriloquist and a review of the NeoGear pocket game system.


I highly recommend Boys' Life to any family who spends time in the outdoors, even if you don't have any scouts in the home. If you have a Boy Scout this magazine is a must since it tends to go along with many of the principles taught in the BSA program. If you have a scout and your troop doesn't offer Boys' Life, talk to your Scout/Cub Master or Committee Chairperson because the troop/pack can get a discount on subscriptions.