Children’s magazines – entertainment and learning
What constitutes a good children’s magazine and how children’s magazines can contribute to promoting media literacy.
How children use magazines
Even if preschoolers mostly have no or only rudimentary reading skills, use she Magazines for entertainment, but also for learning. The newspaper publishers have also recognized this, and are now increasingly creating offers for this target group – after all, they are the readers and thus the consumers and subscribers of tomorrow.
Magazines are mostly considered secondary media used, by the way. It is no different with children. Even so, they can be as Tools to promote reading skills or to awaken interest in reading be used. The great advantage that magazines have over books is that they can be read across. The children can pick individual topics and short stories that interest them and have them read or read to them. This promotes the fun of reading and prevents children from feeling overwhelmed, especially at the start of reading. There are also many colorful pictures and graphics that accompany the stories, as well as picture stories with which even children without reading skills can deal independently.
What makes a (good) children’s magazine
Children’s magazines are colorful designed because eye-catching colors attract children’s attention. There is also often one leading figure, that leads through the magazine. Mostly it is an animal, a fantasy or a media figure that the children from television & Know Co:
The leading figures are often based on the gender of the target group and thus promote stereotypes role Models. In order to get an idea of the quality of the magazine, it is advisable to look at the role models that are conveyed in the magazine: Which gender prevails and which tasks are assigned to it? Ideally, female and male figures are represented on an equal footing. Adventurous, fearful, active or intelligent are not gender-related traits – and this should also be conveyed to children.
Children’s magazines not only live from the text, but above all from the pictures. Especially for beginners Photos, drawings and graphics important for understanding. They explain the text and / or provide additional information. The ratio of text to image should be adapted to the age group and thus to the reading skills and concentration duration of the children.
The selection of the subjects should based on the interests of the children. Stories that are taken from the children’s living environment automatically speak to the target group. Ideally, the children are motivated to continue to deal with the content – be it through handicraft instructions, game descriptions or instructions for experiments.
Also current events can be thematized in children’s magazines – age-appropriate. Children not only learn news from all over the world, but also become stimulates thinking about working together and finding your own problem-solving strategies – be it with questions about environmental protection or living together in different family forms and cultures. If you look at the children’s magazine landscape, this potential is unfortunately only rarely used.
Advertising and role clichés as learning opportunities
Last but not least, magazines always contain advertising. Since this medium not only reaches many people, but also appeals to them in a target group-specific manner, it is particularly suitable as an advertising tool. This is crucial for the quality of children’s magazines Relationship between actual content and advertising and also for children clear demarcation from each other. The problem is, however, that magazines for preschool children are particularly often merchandising products from popular children’s series and feature films. By comparison, they contain most advertising.
Children’s magazines often promote stereotypical role models. Magazines for boys are rather blue in color and focus on technology, science or adventure. The color pink and themes like horses, friendship and looks dominate those for girls.
Advertising and role clichés in children’s magazines are anything but optimal, can but still contribute to learning – if they are discussed in the educational institution or in the family. So they get Children the opportunity to deal with it consciously, actively and critically.
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