Fun to Read ... Fun to Do

The first page of the Children’s Playmate Magazine is the contents page. This is broken down into two sections. The first section is called “Fun to Read”. In this category you will find lines that rhyme, jokes and riddles, the lost and found and Ask Dr. Cory.

The second category is called “Fun to Do” with recipes, connect the dots, and pictures by playmates. The mission of the magazine is noted on this page as well, stating the following:

“We are committed to improving the health and well-being of children. Our purpose is to encourage children of all races and cultures to strive for excellence in the areas of academics, personal fitness, medicine, and science. Our publications are designed to educate and entertain readers and to promote good health and fitness among all children”.

This mission is mentioned on the first page of all the publications of Children’s Better Health Institute. The following magazines are part of this group:

Turtle for preschool kids for ages 2 to 5
Humpty Dumpty’s Magazine for ages 4 to 6
U.S. Kids for ages 5 to 10
Children’s Playmate for ages 6 to 8
Jack and Jill for ages 7 to 10
Child Life for ages 9 to 11
Children’s Digest for preteens

Children’s Playmate Magazine is published eight times a year for the subscription price of $21.95. In the July/August 2000 issue of these magazines is a subscriber card with a special rate of $15.92. This would be the time to order a subscription for the holiday season. Another idea would be to get this for a teacher gift to last the whole year. This would also be worth getting for a Sunday school class at church or if home schooling.

For Canadian orders there is an additional $8.00 US charge for postage as well as a 7% GST. Foreign orders are an additional $10.00. The total subscription cost is due in U.S. Currency.

For telephone orders, the number in Florida is 1-904-447-0818. The website is www.childrensplaymatemag.org. Children’s Playmate Magazine is 35 pages long with no advertising. In the middle of each magazine you will find a book club offer.

The issues are on the following schedule:

January/February
March
April/May
June
July/August
September
October/November
December

I have these magazines in various places through out the house and found the following issues to assist in this review. September 1999, December 1999, June 2000, and the July/August 2000 issue. I tried to find one for all the seasons coming up short on a spring one.

Covers – the September issue is the only one that has photos on it, this being one of Tiger Woods and another of a boy standing at a photo of Tiger as a child. The other covers are drawings of penguins and a polar bear in the snow. The next one has a boy, his father and cat fishing (this cover is displayed on the web site too), and the last one has a monkey playing golf with a snake and parrots.

Back Page – a poem listing the author and illustrator of the picture. They have been on Lightning Bug Boogie, The Porch Swing, Hummingbird and Warm Ups.

September 99 – Apple Orchard, Tulip Time, Fun in the Fall, September Supplies, Apple Windows and Strawberry Snow Cups

December 99 – Where are Mittens, Socks and Stockings, Perfect Weather, Zuccini Bread, Tricky Elves and a Walk in the Woods

June 2000 – It’s Finally Summer, Poison Ivy, Skin Facts, Rice is Nice, Rain Forest Friend, Fun Science and Back to the Hive

July/Aug 2000 – An Octopus, Backyard, Independence Day, The Best Parade, Going Fishing, Seashore Mystery, Garden Hat Harvest and who is Hopping

This gives examples of how the topics vary in each issue. Children’s Playmate Magazine is a great start for a child just entering Kindergarten. My son started a few weeks ago and most of the dot to dot and riddles are similar to what he is doing now in school. My son is also in special education so I would imagine regular kindergarten is doing in the same scope of curriculum.

Each story has vibrant colors with nice artwork to help the young child along with the story who cannot yet read. This current issue I have for July/August 2000 has a four page story of a red blood cell named Hemo. He is flying around and talking about how a valve opens and then the boy in the story fell over a rock and broke a vessel and this gets explained in the story with little diagrams as well.

The word search is on the same topic and they publish the answers later in the magazine. The two page Pictures by our Playmates are sent in by the readers. These will not be returned and it is advised to draw them on white paper. There is a title for each picture along with the name, age, city and state of the artist.

Most of the ones are of animals, gardens, rooms, houses and families. The hidden picture is one of a man sleeping while fishing. The child finds the whale, shark, worm and the five fish, check the answers in the same issue and color the page.

A two page story of if you were an Octopus, which my son is very fond of. The Lines that Rhyme page mentions sending the poem with a drawing by the child to a post office address in Indiana. The same address is where you send a postcard with jokes and riddles as well to be published if selected in a future issue.

The story entitled The Best Parade has pictures in place of the words in the story making it easy for a child to read along. Granny’s Garden Hat is a poem with the next page being a color the harvest with counting how many ears of corn, tomatoes, and other veggies are in the harvest.

A nice story on dragons do not have to smoke with a page of 15 sentences to mark which ones are correct pertaining to smoking. The Fun Science page is a project to see how light can travel. They list the ingredients needed, flashlight, water, hammer, nail, an aluminum can and other things that would include an adult assisting. The next page explains what will happen and why it does. This would make a good activity for a Mom or Dad to do with children, or a group of kids for a weekend activity.

The Ask Dr. Cory column about three questions on two pages with cartoon pictures showing the explanation to the question. How do bones heal, how many shots do I need a year and how do you get appendicitis? The option to send in your request or email a question to askdrcory@childrensplaymatemag.org. The last page is a dot-to-dot.

I like the whole line of magazines from Children’s Better Health Institute . With my kids being 15 months difference in their ages, most of the magazines apply to us now and/or are worth saving for future reference.

For a child that likes to look at pictures, read along with photos, draw, color, laugh, and connect the dots, this would be a perfect magazine to subscribe to in their name. What a delight when my son gets his magazines in the mail, and sits down on the couch looking through them.

Last year I included the Children’s Playmate Magazine in my older sons backpack for share day to show the rest of the students and teacher what he did when not in school.

With a subscription you continue the learning process during the months there is no school, learn about the seasons, fruit and vegetables, sports and animals. I do not see this as being a gender based magazine and noticed quite a few girls drawings, jokes, poems and riddles sent in as well.

The best way to get the magazine would be from the website or dialing the long distance number. I have never seen the magazine at the grocery store or drug store. There is no single copy issue rate listed on the cover either.

The sooner you sign up your child to receive their very own Children’s Playmate Magazine , the better chance to get this in time for the holidays and do some activities over the holiday break. This would be an opportunity to work on poems, riddles, jokes and drawing so your child or grandchild could submit it to the magazine in time for a publication soon after. Then your budding artist or jokester could share their delight and accomplishments with their teachers and friends.

So the question is, are you going to get a subscription for the child in your life to Children’s Playmate Magazine?

*** There is extra great news now if you go to the website. There is a special introductory offer for one free issue with a year subscription at $11.95. The web site has a link for U.S. Residents, Canada Residents and other countries. This is the opportunity that cannot be missed.

I gave a rating of four only because there are eight issues a year and I would like to see it published monthly. The price almost makes me want to change the rating to a five.

It will take between six to eight weeks to get the first issue allowing just enough time for the holidays. An idea would be to hide the issue inside the holiday stocking.