Stevie from A Cornish Mum explains how magazines have featured in her kids' upbringing.
Both of my children have always been magazine mad, hooked from an early age on the brightly coloured free toys that came on the front of the younger magazines.
When they were too small to read them and we didn’t have time at bedtime for an especially long story, or if it were a rainy cold afternoon, I would read magazines to them. There was nothing better back then than curling up with my favourite people in the world and reading them stories and articles that had them either giggling or so absorbed they were completely quiet – believe me, this has always been a rarity in our house since they were born!
Magazines have ‘grown up’ with my children, when they were small they loved any magazine based around colourful noisy television programmes. When they could read themselves it became Batman and other superheroes that they would look out for on the shelves.
At the point when they were old enough to enjoy computer games, then it became magazines like Epic! and any that made a mention to Minecraft. I admit I still don’t ‘get’ Minecraft, as with all the fancy graphics there are today, they choose to play a game where everything is made of blocks, and looks more like the games I played as a child.
However, Minecraft is surprisingly educational and my children have learnt lots of things from it, including what has to be mined for in real life and the names of a lot of plants and types of trees.
I like the educational factor of magazines too. My children actually read for fun, and it doesn’t occur to them that they are often learning things from them.
The life cycle of magazines for us has moved on again though recently, with them now being nine and eleven, whilst they still like magazines with gaming in, recently it’s been the Match of the Day that’s grabbed their attention. They read about their favourite players and team (Liverpool) and then they go outside and play football, inspired to try a bit harder and learn new skills.
Magazines have been with my children pretty much all their lives – especially if you include the baby magazines I read whilst pregnant with them – but I have to say, as a parent who really wishes they would stop growing up so quickly, I am hoping this current part of the magazine life cycle lasts for a long time.
Think your kids might enjoy magazines? We’ve got loads of titles to choose from in our kids magazines section.
