Thursday, May 31, 2007

Wondertime

I am a collector of magazines. Have been ever since my Sassy years but now I lean towards the crafty bits and of course Parenting mags. I myself am not a parent, not yet anyway but I am an educator and I love love love watching children in their development. It is such an exciting thing to behold. Truly magical.

Wonder Time spines

One thing that irks me about parenting magazines is the articles. I love a nifty party idea and of course the pages and pages of too cute clothes and toys but the articles tend to be "professionals" talking down to parents or maybe that's just me. I just get the feeling that they are a wee bit preachy. Wondertime doesn't do that. At least not in a big way. What I like about Wondertime is that is comes from a developmental point of view. I have a strong belief that people who plan on being parents should take at least one course in Child Development. It would be immensely helpful for both you and your children. Sure the magazine is produced and distributed by a huge conglomerate and it is chock full of clever ads but the articles themselves embrace the spectrum of parenting and parenting issues. It also works as a great companion for caregivers. I do not work for nor have I ever worked for any company involved in the publication of wondertime, just so ya know. I simply like this magazine and I want to recommend it to you all. Oh, and the website is pretty nifty also.

Wonder Time

This month's issue is full of fun albeit for those of us with sunnier climates. For you Dad's out there, the current issue has oodles of articles written from your perspectives. Previous issues have included articles on the merits of technology AND nature, growing a children's garden and how to play with your kids as they grow older. Guest contributors have included Dr. T. Brazelton and Daniel Pinkwater. The presentation of the magazine is a little Martha Stweart and a little Dwell. It is pleasing to the eye with neutral colors and nifty photography. Even though is is published by Disney, you won't find any technicolor princess stories in their book recommendation pages. I guess you could say this is a fancier hardcopy form of FamilyFun.

Well, that's it for today. I hope you found this helpful and if you pick up a copy of the magzine let me know what you think through gmail...scrumdillydo. Thanks!

7 comments:

  1. i love wondertime too - but was a little sad to know that it is part of the disney family - i always worry there is an alterior motive... xo

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  2. i hear ya! i was skeptical but the magazine so far has proven to be delightful. i hope it remains that way! :)

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  3. I love wondertime too! I'm in agreement with you on the articles in most parenting mags just irritate me. What bugs me too is how many times does a person need to read about hold to feed a newborn, put a baby to sleep, and what to feed a baby it's first foods. I guess what I need is more meat in my articles about parenting all my kids from birth and up! Too many mags go for that up to 3 years of age stuff and that doesn't help me. I've been there and done that numerous times so I need to know how to handle new situations with my kids especially my oldest who is 7 years old.

    By the way, love your blog! I've been making the koolaid playdough for years and never thought once to add glitter to the mixture...thanks for the neat idea for a new look for our playdough.

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  4. I've been eyeing "Wondertime"...I think I'll get a copy! I was also a HUGE fan of Martha Stewarts "KIDS" mag before they discontinued it.

    I love your blog, by the way! I've been lurking for a few months now!

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  5. I completely agree that everyone planning to be a parent should take Child Development--or at the very least, there should be some Required Reading!

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  6. thank you ladies! I too mis the MArtha Kids luckily I kept all my old issues with only a few misisng, I also have some of marth'as Baby on hand. If you're looking for interesting developmental reads I would recommned Brazelton's Touchpoints, Brigg's Your Child's Self Esteem and Elkind's The Hurried Child.

    Thank you for reading. lurking andcommenting! It helps me immensely!

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  7. I was introduced to Wondertime by my mother. I liked the educational ideas. The articles read a little bit like Vanity Fair. The best feature was tuning me in to butterflyalphabet.com where you can final all 26 letters and numbers 0 to 9 in the wings of butterfies.

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