Magazines for girls?

[AdinaL]

I've been looking for some magazines for my daughter (6, almost 7) to help her along with reading that would also be interesting to her.  And also show girls in a good, strong light. I'm not interested in having her read about fashion or makeup or boys at this point, but I want her to see other good things girls are doing.  I am thinking about Highlights, and I loved Ranger Rick when I was a kid, but I have no idea how they have changed in the 30 years since I read them.

Anyone have any ideas?  

[mamazee]

In a couple of years, check out New Moon Girls magainze. It's really great, but it's for ages 8 and up.

My daughter loved Ranger Rick. She got a gift subscription to Highlights at one point and I'm not sure how into that one she was. They had some games she liked I think.

[AdinaL]

Never heard of it. Thanks for the suggestion!

[escher]

I agree with New Moon magazine when she is older. For now, maybe Spider or one of the other magazines published by Cricket?

[beanma]

The Cricket magazines are fantastic. They are not specifically girl-oriented, but just for kids that enjoy learning about all sorts of things. I need to renew our subscription. We have had them since Baby Bug and are up to Cricket and Spider now. Ladybug might be her speed if she's 6 almost 7. If she's a strong reader she might like Spider. 

We got New Moon for awhile, but I think they talked about dropping the print publication, but I saw one in the store the other day, so maybe they changed their mind on that.

[AdinaL]

Cricket looks great - as does Spider.  

I will definitely be getting that.

What does everyone think about the various National Geographic for kids mags?

[HappyHappyMommy]

Originally Posted by beanma 

The Cricket magazines are fantastic.

I agree. My favorites of this magazine group are Appleseeds and Faces, but they are all great.

[beanma]

Hate the National Geographic mags. Full of ads. The cricket mags are ad free. If you're looking for a nature magazine I'd suggest Ranger Rick.

[tbone_kneegrabber]

Originally Posted by beanma 

Hate the National Geographic mags. Full of ads. The cricket mags are ad free. If you're looking for a nature magazine I'd suggest Ranger Rick.

I second this.  Ranger Rick is a decent nature magazine and doesn't have ads.  Ranger Rick Jr. is good too (for a younger group) DS is 5.5years old and likes Ranger Rick Jr, I think he's probably ready to move on to Ranger Rick because I read it aloud anyway.

I like the Cricket publications. We used to get Ladybug, we get Click, no we get Appleseeds (I don't care for Appleseeds and won't be renewing it).  I'm interested in Ask.

[AdinaL]

Even the kids national geo?? That's too bad.

[beanma]

The kids's National Geo is what we're talking about. Horrible. The grown up NG is great. Go Ranger Rick. It's excellent!

[hscentral]

Stone Soup has been one of my daughter's favorites.  It's a magazine written and illustrated entirely by children aged 8-13 and contains no advertising.  

[moonjunio]

We get Zootles which is the easier version of Zoobooks. They also have one for babies. It features a different wild animal each issue and is ad-free. 

[Saf]

I'll also suggest Cricket as a great source. My DD is 7, and she gets 'Ask'. It's the science magazine. I figure she has enough books for literature. We're in Canada, so she also gets Chickadee magazine from Owl Kids.

[oikophile]

Another vote for New Moon if you're looking for something specifically for girls when your daughter is a little older. I can't recommend it highly enough. As far as I know, the electronic-only version was just an experiment--they are still doing print issues.

[Escaping]

It depends what her interests are. When I was a kid, children's magazines never interested me. I found the contents were so overly geared towards children that I could read for hours and still not have learned a single new thing lol ...My favorites were Cosmo (although that sounds like the exact opposite of what you're looking for), sailing/boating magazines, and anything to do with technology.

Maybe take her to a bookstore with a huge selection and see what she seems interested in?

[strawberryprincess]

Has anyone tried the American Girl Magazine?  It says 8 and up, I think.  I have a 9 year old and have considered this one (or asking for a birthday gift) but i've never actually read it.  I'm going to check out NewMoon soon.  thanks for the suggestion =)

I also agree that the Nat Geo kids is terrible.  Aside from all the ads, I thought the actual content was crap too!
 

[beanma]

American Girl is okay. My girls usually get one issue in their stockings at Christmas. It's a little fashiony and there are activities to do with your American girl doll and some upselling but it's not terribly over the top. There are recipes (cupcakes, etc), craft activities (how to make a sparkle hair bow), suggestions for things to do on a sleepover, etc. there might be an occasional article on friendship or bullying but overall it's pretty much fluff compared to the American girl self help books.

[mamazee]

There is some fun stuff in the American Girl magazine, and my daughter did like it, but of course it's highly commercialized.

[revolting]

Seconding Ask. My six year old also gets Highlights.