Bayard Magazines for Kids

As you know we love the Bayard Magazines for Kids. As soon as my kids see that they’ve arrived they rip into them and pull them out to read. My son is so quick on the draw that my littlest doesn’t even get a chance. This is a great way to introduce your kids to reading or to encourage your kids to read more.

 

And now the magazines are available in audio too. How cool is that.

 

I’m so excited to share that Bayard is offering our readers the chance to win a 6 month subscription. I wish I could enter. Just head on down to the bottom of the post to find out how to enter.

 

The post is sponsored by Bayard

but I love their magazines and would support them regardless.

I just wanted you to know in advance.   

Bayard Magazines for Kids

Bayard Magazines for Kids

 

What’s Available

So, if you’re completely new to Bayard Magazines for Kids, I’ll give you a break down on what is available.

 

There are three levels of magazines.

• StoryBox for 3 – 6 year olds
• AdventureBox for 6 – 9 year olds
• DiscoveryBox for 9 – 12 year olds

 

The size of the magazine, the complexity of concepts and drawings in the magazine are adapted to each age category.

 

There is now also an audio option in which the stories in the magazines are read out loud.

 

Story Box

The Story Box Magazines is the biggest in physical size so it’s easy to hold and the writing is nice and big for the kids.

Each magazine is 50 pages long and is divided into 4 sections but there is a theme that runs throughout the book. The Story Box I’ll talk about in this post was centered around Goldbeard, a pirate, and the beach.

 

1. Story Time

This is the main segment of the book and also reflected on the cover of each edition. There are such great stories, this month we read Goldbeard’s Treasure. The stories are all beautifully illustrated. Better than any you’ve seen in a magazine. These are book quality illustrations, actually they are better than some of the illustrations I’ve seen in some books.

 

2. Discovery 

This section is split in two. There is a section which explores the science behind animals or processes called Wonder with Whizkid. In this edition we first looked at how waves are made. How incredible is that. Allowing your child to understand this amazing process at such a young age. The second of these sections is Animal World where kids are introduced to a new animal every edition, we learnt about Dolphins. Granted my 5 year old told me he knew all of that already – typical 5 year old.

 

3. Adventures

In the Adventures section of the magazine there are 4 consistent character based stories. These are a little bit like comics for little kids. This is more like what you expect from a magazine and is true to the more traditional magazines.

 

4. Games

This is the section of the magazine that my son goes to first. The Games part of the magazine are activities. These are focused on creativity and observation skills. The games in this edition were all centred around kites.

 

My daughter wasn’t able to do this in her early threes but as she is moving towards four she is enjoying this a bit more. But she does try compete with her brother which is very strong motivation.

Some of these activities are more suited to kids who are able to read or at least identify letters.

 

 

Adventure Box 

 

The Adventure Box Magazines are the smallest of the magazines, they are compact and could be shoved into a school bag easily. Each magazine is 66 pages long and is divided into 4 sections.

 

1. Story 

 

As with StoryBox the story is the main segment of the book. This month’s story was called Chocolate and Funny Faces. The introduction read:

“Sam adores his great grandmother. She lets him watch telly and eat loads of snacks.”

Sound like the situation with anyone else’s family!?

The difference with this story is that it is longer and divided into chapters.  The writing is big and nicely spaced out for young readers. It’s a great way to encourage reading without it being overbearing!  These stories are about 45 pages long (but the book is A5 size but slightly wider) with each page being illustrated.

2. Puzzles and Games

 

The puzzles and games are all contained in three pages and are broken up in different sections of the same page. There are matching games and join the dots, a small cross word and some logic games.

 

3. NatureBox

Here children learn about various forms of the natural world. We learnt about Fireflies this time round, previously we’ve learnt about some really interesting things that we would never learn otherwise, like Mackerels.

 

I really love that there are photographs because at this age my son is very visual and wants to see what I’m talking about. If there weren’t I can guarantee I would be on the phone googling good images of fireflies. The photos are also combined with drawings reflecting other facts. It’s a great mixture of visuals.

 

I’m not sure I liked the fact that fireflies are predators of the insect world – but I suppose this is life.

 

 

4. A comic strip 

 

The comic strip follows the life and experiences of Zak Jinks. This month Zak Jinks went to school holiday camp and had to help someone out who was feeling sad. I love that you can get some virtues out of a comic strip!

Can you see how these Bayard magazines for Kids have  layers and layers of positive experiences.

Discovery Box

 

One of our previous Discovery Box magazines was about Malala. Now tell me, how can you not love a magazine or magazine company who is introducing children to the story of Malala.

This month the focus was on the night sky.

 

The Adventure Box Magazines are aimed at ages 9 – 12. Each magazine is 50 pages long and is divided into 4 sections while focusing on a common theme. There are also comic strips or cartoons and games and activities throughout the magazine.

 

1. Zoom In 

In this month’s edition we read all about Stonehenge, the planets turning around the sun and Telescopes. Previously, we have read about the poles and how people live at the North and South Pole and life around the sea – under the sea and on the coastline.

 

2. Investigate

This is such a cool section. Here your child gets to meet another child who investigates how or why somethings works. This time we met Juliette who took us to an observatory. In the past we’ve met Camilla and visited a seal centre and Zoe to study polar ice.

 

What is really cool about this section is that your children can see other children acting at the explorers and investigators. It also shows them children from across the globe who may look, act or experience things different to your child.

 

3. Pics & Facts

This month we learnt about a Mayan astronomer, Chak Chan. I had never even heard about him before I read this. We have previously read about a Polar Explorer who went to Greenland and the Brave Lighthouse Keepers of the 19th century.

4. Wildlife 

 

The photographs included here are absolutely amazing. There are explanations and captions that supplement the photographs. This month was all about bats. Slightly gross but perfectly entertaining for inquisitive kids.

 

There are so many little pieces of information packed into this magazine everywhere. We got a star map in this one which we could use to identify some of the stars in the sky. A little beyond my kids but with my help it was okay. This magazine is a lot more educational than the two other types of magazines on offer.

 

 

 

Why we love Bayard Magazines for Kids

 

It’s simple.

1. The content is great.
2. Each aspect of the magazine grabs and retains your child’s attention.
3. There are no adverts.
4. Your children go back to reading with enough variety for them to not want to turn on the TV.

 

My kids and I love these magazines so much! If you’re an Australian reader you can get them from this Bayard Magazines For Kids website.

♦

 

The Audio Options for Bayard Magazines 

With the audio option the stories and characters are brought to life by British actors. The quality of the reading and recording is as good as the Julia Donaldson audio books.

There are 2 options you can choose from:

• You can either receive 5 CDs (each CD contains stories from 2 issues) with your magazines.
• Download or stream MP3s for each issue. Shortly after your order you will receive a monthly email with links to the MP3s and a password to access them.

 

♦

 

GIVEAWAY FROM BAYARD MAGAZINES

Thanks to  the wonderful team at Bayard Magazines, we have 6 month subscriptions to give to 3 lucky readers. These subscriptions will come with audio too.

To win yourself one of these fantastic subscriptions comment below with the magazine that would be best suited to your child/ren and why.

Please make sure to leave your valid email address. No one else will be able to see it, only AllThingsMomSydney. We need this in order to get hold of you if you win!

Winners will be chosen randomly on 10 October 2018 and contacted by way of email.