A LENGTHY INTRODUCTION (FEEL FREE TO SKIP TO THE NEXT SECTION)
I used to love PBS and limited my children to that channel most of the time. I figured it was educational and commercial-free, so what could be better. Then, over the years, the programming changed. Instead of educational shows, more and more cartoons crept in. Clifford, Sagwa, Arthur, Dragon Tails, George Shrinks and friends are all nice but don't really provide much education. Even the non-commercial aspect of PBS is fading quickly as the sponsor spots look more and more like commercials. They certainly have that effect on my children who beg to go to Chuck E. Cheese and to eat sugary cereals after logging in a few viewing hours at PBS.
Then we started watching Nick Jr. Dora the Explorer and Blues Clues provide entertainment and education. My 3 year old has a decent spanish vocabulary thanks to Dora. Sure there are ads on Nick Jr., However, the ads are not that different from PBS. They don't interrupt the shows, they are for toys and sugary cereals and, although they are a bit splashier than PBS, they have the same ultimate effect on my kids which is to make them beg for products. I find that if I turn off the tv between the programs, I can avoid the ads and still get quality programming on Nick. Jr. As a result, we have all become quite fond of the pre-school Nick. Jr. programming.
TYPICAL CONTENT - FOR THE FAMILY
There are really two parts to this magazine. One part is for adult readers with lots of ideas for the family. The second is a separate pull-out section just for kids called Noodle which is described below. The content in Nick Jr. magazine is geared towards families with children 6 and under. There are certainly some activities and content that would appeal to older children but that is not really the focus.
The content for adults is divided into two categories: Do-Together and Grown-ups. The Do-Together section is a compilation of things families can do together. This section generally includes crafts, activities, cooking ideas kids can do with grown-ups and stories that adults can read to children.
The crafts are generally on the easy side and use materials you probably have on hand. A recent issue had ideas you could do with mixed media materials including water color paints and crayons. The activities include things primarily for pre-schoolers. A recent summer issue had ideas on pre-swimming activities and how to plant a butterfly garden. There was even a handy field guide for identifying butterflies.
The recipe section is usually pretty good and helpful. They have ideas on main courses and vegetables. Personally, I hate it when magazines focus on sweets and cupcake decorating for their recipes. I don't need ideas on how to sell sweets to my kids. Vegetables, on the other hand, need a major marketing pitch so I can use all the ideas I can get. We have made a couple of recipes from this magazine and they both turned out well.
The "Grown-up" section has parenting articles, short pieces with humor or factoids of interest to parents, party ideas for children, recipes, suggestions of products to buy, general articles about being in a family and lots of other general information. There is no standard content and it seems to vary somewhat issue to issue.
This part of the magazine is just okay and there are tidbits here and there that are helpful. The parenting articles are just okay. They are generally well-written but don't contain a lot of useful information or seem particularly moving. Child magazine has much better parenting information. The stuff to buy section is influenced by the advertising and is also not particularly helful. The recipes are the best part, although in this section they are designed to be made by an adult instead of a project to do with children. The birthday party ideas feature easy-to-do projects that an average not-to-crafty adult could pull off.
NOODLE: THE PULL-OUT MAGAZINE FOR KIDS
This is a really a nice feature for a parenting / family magazine. My kids get so exited when this magazine shows up because they know it features their favorite characters. I love that there is a pull-out magazine just for them. The first thing they want to do is go through their part. That leaves me a few minutes of peace to browse through my part. Later we read Noodle together.
According to my kids, the best part of Noodle is seeing their favorite Nick Jr. characters. The characters are from Nick Jr.'s pre-school line-up and include Oswald, Dora the Explorer, Little Bill and Blues Clues. However, I like Noodle for the quality of the content. There are blues clues games which encourage kids to find clues and then use logic to guess how the clues are related. There are pictures where kids are encouraged to make up the text, pre-math games and just fun stuff too. Each issue has some additional pull-out pieces including cards that can be used for games in the car and a blues clues notebook.
My only wish is that Noodle was longer than the 15 or so pages included with each issue. Even though Noodle is fairly short, it does have a lot of games and info and, I think, Noodle alone is worth a good percentage of the subscription price because my kids enjoy it so much. Noodle is also advertising-free.
PRICE
The cover price is $2.95 U.S. and $3.50 CAN. A one year subscription is 10 issues and about $20.
OTHER INFORMATION
The magazine is the usual size. The paper is not quite glossy although it is full color. The Noodle magazine is on the same kind of paper. Noodle can be separated by the magazine by simply pulling at it because it is only secured with glue. The rest of the magazine's binding will remain intact.
ADVERTISEMENTS
Noodle has no ads. However, the main part of Nick Jr. magazine has all of the typical advertisements for family magazines. The target audience seems to be women who drive mini-vans (or who are contemplating a mini-van purchase) with young children. There are a lot of ads considering the level of content.
FINAL RECOMMENDATION
This is a pretty good family magazine. There is some good content for adults including parenting articles, practical crafts, great recipes and activities for the family. The Noodle pull-out magazine for kids is great and adds a lot of value. I can easily recommend Nick Jr. magazine.
MY REVIEWS OF PARENTING AND FAMILY MAGAZINES
Family Fun:
http://www.epinions.com/content_96390450820.
Child:
http://www.epinions.com/content_101465427588.
Daughters:
http://www.epinions.com/content_110745456260.
MY REVIEWS OF MAGAZINES FOR CHILDREN
Your Big Backyard:
http://www.epinions.com/content_95156407940.
Kids Discover:
http://www.epinions.com/content_94276193924.
Zoobooks:
http://www.epinions.com/content_94591684228.
Ladybug:
http://www.epinions.com/content_94864641668.
Ranger Rick:
http://www.epinions.com/content_96249089668.
New Moon:
http://www.epinions.com/content_104430603908.
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