Best science magazine for five-year old?

[quelindo]

My son is very into space and natural disasters, among other things, and can understand concepts way beyond his age. I'm thinking of subscribing to a science magazine for him, but I don't know what's out there. It can be for a slightly older age group as long as I'm reassured that it's not TOO old for him.

Does anyone have any recommendations? Thanks!

[momtokea]

We really like KNOW magazine.
http://www.knowmag.ca/

[heatherdeg]

Not cheap, but we LOVE Click and because my son is a bit ahead (and 6-1/2) we've moved on to the next level of it (Ask)

I'd never heard of "Know" but I'll have to look at that. We also like Kids Discover, but I just checked and it's for 7-12yo.

[LemonPie]

Discover has a kid's magazine called Kids Discover . DH subscribes to Discover and they sent a sample of the kids one. My 7 yo was interested in it and asked to subscribe, so I sent the card off.

[Fuamami]

We love Click! Great grandparent gift idea, because the pp is right - it's not cheap.

Hate Your Big Backyard and National Geographic Kids magazine. I would stay away from those.

[Geerbabe]

I second the vote for KNOW. It's awesome!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by Fuamami

We love Click! Great grandparent gift idea, because the pp is right - it's not cheap.

Hate Your Big Backyard and National Geographic Kids magazine. I would stay away from those.

Why do you hate Nat. Geog. Kids? I just ordered it a week or so ago hoping that it would be a good one.

Amy

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by AAK

Why do you hate Nat. Geog. Kids? I just ordered it a week or so ago hoping that it would be a good one.

Amy

Nat Geo kids is FULL of ads... it's like a kids meal from any fast-food restaurant chock full of the latest Disney film's characters, etc. Very annoying. My son had no idea that Kung Fu Panda existed until Nat Geo Kids.

[tammyw]

We've had Know before and it's pretty good! I just ordered (from this thread) Kids Discover for mine (4 and 7.5). Can't wait to get it now! I'm sort of tempted by their past issue packets but I'll wait to see what the magazine is like first!

[AAK]

Originally Posted by heatherdeg

Nat Geo kids is FULL of ads... it's like a kids meal from any fast-food restaurant chock full of the latest Disney film's characters, etc. Very annoying. My son had no idea that Kung Fu Panda existed until Nat Geo Kids.

Well, crud. I usually avoid those. That darn mag is always checked out at our library so I was hoping that it was because it was really good. We also love Discover Kids, Ask, and Odyssey--but I can usually get some of those at the library.

Amy

[Mama Rana]

Do Click and/or Know cover a variety of subjects, not just animals? I want a magazine that covers all the kinds of sciences, not just Life Science.

My son [6] loves that show, Popular Mechanics for Kids, and I wish wish wish they'd come out with a magazine version!

[tankgirl73]

I'll also recommend KNOW. We've subscribed to YES! for several years -- that's their older kids' magazine. In fact, my son just won a book and a t-shirt from this month's caption contest!

I haven't actually seen KNOW, but we love YES so much that we will definitely get KNOW for my daughter when she's a bit older (she's only 3).

[lach]

Click is GREAT. All of the magazines published by them are. No ads, and really well written and illustrated. Each magazine has a theme. The last one was about mountains, and DH and I spent all afternoon reading it saying "wow, I never knew that!" There was an article about volcanoes, and one about hiking Mount Everest, and a cartoon story about hiking up a nature trail (there's a cartoon story in each issue about these same characters), and an article about animals who live on mountains, and a bunch more than I'm forgetting. It says ages 3-6, but my 3yo is still a bit too young for it. I think a 4yo would understand a lot more.

It's more expensive than most kids magazines, but I think that you really get what you pay for. We also subscribe to Babybug, and DD sleeps with just about every back issue we have.

Another vote for avoiding National Geographic Kids. I subscribed when I was a kid and it first came out and I really liked it. They redid it sometime between now and then, and made it much more "commercial." It's all ads and Bright!Flashy!Stories! of extremely dubious educational merit now. Every issue I've seen seems to be revolving around a blockbuster movie, some of which I don't even think are particularly appropriate for a preschooler (Pirates of the Caribbean? Maybe I'm just a fuddy duddy? I thought it was a really fun movie, and I've seen it a few times... but it wouldn't even occur to me to show it to DD for years to come!)

[JuniperBCN]

Are there 2 Nat'l Geographics, one for littles and another? Because we get one as a gift from my mum, and while it's not great, the kids LOVE it and it doesn't really have ads. There are some tie ins to Toot and Puddle and Mama Mirabelle, but my kids don't realize that they are shows, they just think that they are characters who appear in the magazine.

[quelindo]

Wow, thanks for all the great replies! I'll have some researching to do for sure. I'm excited to learn along with my son.

[pigpokey]

OK, I'm intrigued but a bit confused. What would be the best magazine for a 5.5 year old who is a 4th grade reader?

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by heatherdeg

Nat Geo kids is FULL of ads... it's like a kids meal from any fast-food restaurant chock full of the latest Disney film's characters, etc. Very annoying. My son had no idea that Kung Fu Panda existed until Nat Geo Kids.

Yes, this. People keep buying DS gift subscriptions to Nat Geo Kids, and I can't quite bring myself to tell them to PLEASE get him something else instead. Definitely high on commercialism, low on substance, and every issue leads to requests for something or other.

It struck me that the normal National Geographic is similarly full of ads (though it definitely has more substance in the articles!). Just that adults tend to have somewhat better ad-filters in place.

Originally Posted by JuniperBCN

Are there 2 Nat'l Geographics, one for littles and another? Because we get one as a gift from my mum, and while it's not great, the kids LOVE it and it doesn't really have ads. There are some tie ins to Toot and Puddle and Mama Mirabelle, but my kids don't realize that they are shows, they just think that they are characters who appear in the magazine.

Yes, there's a little kids one aimed at toddlers/preschoolers, and National Geographic Kids, which is aimed at elementary, which is the one we all have a problem with. I've never actually seen the one for little kids, so can't comment on that.

[Jennifer3141]

We loved the little kids NG magazine. That was definitely better than the mags for bigger kids. So I can see why someone would be confused. I kept subscribing long last the kids' ages because I knew the bigger kids' mag was awful. I peeked at last month's issue while at the library today and counted mroe ad pages than articles. Yikes!

[JoyMC]

another hater of NG Kids, but i'm excited to look into some of the other suggestions here ...

[quelindo]

I checked out Click, and it looks great, but do you think it might be too "easy" for a five-year old who can explain how black holes work? I'm wondering if we should move up into one of their magazines aimed at 6-9 year olds...