Best Magazine Subscriptions for Young Kids

I used to never really think about magazine subscriptions for young kids. We go to the library often, we have a ton of books at home- it just wasn’t something that really crossed my mind.

Until my mom gifted my oldest daughter a year’s subscription to Ranger Rick Cub.

And suddenly, I was hooked. We were both hooked. Very rapidly something that I hadn’t given any thought to became one of the things I looked forward to the most with my daughter- the arrival of a new magazine each month.

So here’s our absolute favorite magazine subscriptions for young kids- toddlers, preschoolers, and early primary grades.

Why We Love Magazine Subscriptions for Our Young Kids

Kids love mail. Kids love novelty. And kids love figuring out how the world works.

I love reading to my kids and watching them learn. I also love not having to plan one more thing on top of all the other things I already plan. (And I also still getting mail a little bit.)

Magazine subscriptions are a great way to check off all of these boxes. (And whether you have a reluctant reader or one who just can’t get enough time reading- magazines are great.)

I also love that very often in a magazine is something that I would have never thought to teach my kid. Something I’ve either forgotten about or that has never crossed my mind- I almost feel like magazines help fill in the gaps for me.

I also love that magazines are fresh- both for me and my daughters. When I feel like I can’t read a particular library book over again or I’m just fresh out of ideas- a magazine is a great way to bring in some fresh reading material.

We love ours so much that we’ve never even thrown away an issue. We store them in some cute magazine holders in our living room and they’ve now been passed down to younger siblings. They are truly a fantastic addition to our home.

Best Magazine All Around: Highlights High Five

If I could only pick one magazine subscription to start with, it would be Highlights High Five.

I know most people probably associate these with the waiting room at pediatricians’ offices, but they are seriously AMAZING.

Who It’s Geared For:

Preschoolers and Young Primary Aged Students

What’s In It:

Everything. Each issue includes a poem, a story, a nonfiction piece, some sort of puzzle, a craft idea, and a kid-friendly recipe.

Why We Love It:

I love it because it has such a variety in it. You can easily break it up into several days of reading one new section a day or you can just as easily read straight through it without getting bored.

I love the range it offers. From learning social skills through fictional stories to working on noticing details with the hidden objects puzzles, to learning some introductory Spanish, this magazine helps develop A LOT of skills that kids need.

I also love at the end where there’s always a craft idea and a recipe idea. These are great for extending the learning beyond the magazine AND are great to reach for on the days where you just have no idea what to do with your kiddos.

Plus, a twice a year or so they’ll send a bonus puzzle edition with different puzzles, sticker scenes, etc. We love these.

Read more about pricing and subscription offers here.

Best Magazines for Kids Who Love Amimals: Ranger Rick

Who It’s Geared For:

Ranger Rick Cub is great for toddlers and young preschoolers. Ranger Rick Jr. is great for older preschoolers and primary aged students.

What’s In It:

Ranger Rick Cub is a FANTASTIC subscription for babies, toddlers, and young preschoolers.

Each issue features animals and a couple of cute fun facts. Featuring real photos, this subscription fits particularly well in a Montessori home.

Additionally, there are matching activities and early introductions to phonics.

The magazine itself is pretty sturdy and just the right size for little hands. We’ve had several of our issues for years and they’ve held up well through multiple kids.

Ranger Rick Jr. is great for older preschoolers and primary aged students. Each issue features nonfiction texts about an animal, a fictional story featuring animal friends, and a couple of short comics or puzzle pages. While I don’t find the puzzles or the fictional story quite as much fun as I do the Highlights High Five writing, I do think this magazine is GREAT for introducing more science to your child.

Why We Love It:

My kiddo LOVES learning about the different animals and it’s a great supplement to our science preschool activities. As she gets older, it’ll continue to be a great supplement to any homeschool science curriculum.

Additionally, the Ranger Rick Cub issues have been wonderful issues for my kids to look at on long car rides or while their older sibling is working on their homeschool activities.

Information on pricing and subscription deals is available here.

Best Magazine for Learning About the World: National Geographic Little Kids

Who It’s Geared For:

Preschoolers and primary aged students. Their website says ages 3-5, but even as a grown woman- I LOVE reading these magazines. I’m not going to put an upper age cap on these.

What’s In It:

Each issue features an animal or two, nonfiction about different topics such as space or the rainforest, and wild cards. The wild cards are cardboard cards they can punch out with different animals and facts on them (almost think baseball cards here).

Each issue also includes an activity or two such as matching, finding your way through a maze, sorting animals by classification, finding animals in a scene, etc. These activities are varied each issue and never get old.

My favorite issues also feature a section on geography with facts about iconic places.

Why We Love It:

We love it because it is full of real photos of places all over the world. I remember as a kid flipping through my dad’s National Geographic issues that he had collected for years dreaming of where I would like to learn about and travel to. I love that my kids can do the same with issues geared for their ages.

I also love that the facts are engaging and straight to the point- great for shorter attention spans.

I also just love the way the magazine looks. Pages have insets and text features that make the pages themselves so much more compelling.

Lastly, I love it because on the back of every issue they include a map with the locations highlighted of where each animal discussed in the magazine lives. Any extra interactions with maps is a great way to build map literacy.

Information on pricing is available here.

Best Magazine for Kids Who Love Stories: Cricket Ladybug

Who It’s Geared For:

Primary aged students. With these passages being longer than the magazines previously mentioned, this one is best for primary aged students and not as great for preschoolers.

What’s In It:

This magazine has the most text in it compared to the other magazines on this list. There are NUMEROUS short stories, poems, and a couple of nonfiction pieces.

Why We Love It:

If you have a reader who just can’t get enough stories- this is a great option for them. Think of it as a literary magazine for kids.

While they do include recipes or activity ideas sometimes, I don’t find them as fun or as accessible as the ones included in Highlights- so this one is purely for the stories in it.

Information about subscription pricing is available here.