pre-school Archives - HodgePodgeDays

Whenever we go into a supermarket the small boy always heads for the magazine stand and spends some time weighing up his options before choosing a children’s magazine to take home. When he was younger I used to have to hide it away until we got home or he’d trash it in the car, but these days he sits beautifully in the back of the car pouring over the contents and deciding what he’s going to colour in or put stickers on when we get home.

This month a brand new children’s magazine has been launched by award winning pre-school publisher, Redan Publishing Ltd. They publish a whole range of kids magazines which you will be familiar with, such as Peppa Pig Magazine, Ben & Holly’s Little Kingdom Magazine as well as Friends Magazine and Favourites Magazine – all of which we’ve bought and read a number of times.

The new publication, Fun to Learn First Friends Magazine, is aimed at pre-school children aged 2-4 years. It contains stories and activities featuring popular children’s TV characters including, Elmer, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Spot, Woolly & Tig, Abney & Teal amongst many others.

Fun to Learn First Friends Magazine

This lovely magazine encourages learning through play, with easy to follow stories and fun activities, including early learning crafts, letters, counting, making, matching, puzzles, colouring, all of which are great for a spot of stealth learning and for sparking a bit of creativity.

The first edition of the monthly Fun to Learn First Friends Magazine costs £2.99 and is published on 8th July. It comes with a free gift of a Very Hungry Caterpillar Tea Set, 33 stickers, an Elmer height chart, a Spot the Dog poster and the chance to win a Gruffalo Trunki.

Fun to Learn First Friends Magazine

As you can see, the small boy really enjoyed Fun to Learn First Friends Magazine, he loved the activities, especially the colouring in. He liked the Spot the Dog poster and he really, really loved the little free gift of a tea set. It was the perfect activity for an afternoon stuck in the house.

We have recently been sent a personalised Pop Goes Your Name CD to listen to and review. It’s a collection of fun and upbeat songs, personalised with the small boy’s name, which makes it extra special for him. The CD, which is written for children in their early years features a selection of musical styles, with catchy melodies and sing-along lyrics. There’s a little bit of rock, a little bit of pop and a little bit of hip-hop etc.

The small boy loves music. Since he figured out how to use his Dad’s iPod we’ve been regularly treated to his own personal musical style and constant demands for us all to have a dance. Dance Mummy, dance! We love this and it’s only to be encouraged, even if his music taste isn’t particularly small boy appropriate. Rage Against the Machine anyone?

We had a small family disco to see if we liked the Pop Goes Your Name CD, we did. From the moment it started he was dancing, he danced all the way through. We danced a bit too, there were some seriously good toe-tapping tunes on this CD for toddlers.

What I liked about it was that it wasn’t toe-curlingly twee. It wasn’t sickly sweet nursery tunes, but proper, actual songs that you could listen to and enjoy. We have listened to it several times now and it’s not worn thin or got annoying. And the small boy absolutely loves it, which is always the true test. You know with a child that if a toy, game, CD or whatever is good they keep asking for it, and he does.

The Pop Goes Your Name CD costs £12.95 and you can choose from the top 800 children’s names. I think at that price it’s a great present idea for a small child, ideal for birthdays and Christmas. It’s a lovely gift and one we’ll enjoy together on our little disco nights and on car journeys.