14 best magazines for ages 4 8

Magazines for ages 4-8 are a popular category of periodicals designed specifically for young children in the early stages of their reading and learning development. These magazines are carefully curated to engage, entertain, and educate young readers. Here are some key characteristics and details about magazines tailored for this age group:

  1. Age-Appropriate Content: Magazines for ages 4-8 are tailored to the cognitive and emotional development of young children.They feature content that is suitable for kids in this age range, such as stories, games, and activities that align with their interests and abilities.

  2. Educational Focus: Many of these magazines have an educational component, aiming to help children develop essential early literacy and numeracy skills. They may include simple math puzzles, basic science concepts, and vocabulary-building activities.

  3. Engaging Illustrations: Visual appeal is crucial in magazines for young children. These magazines typically feature colorful and captivating illustrations to pique children's interest and make the content more accessible.

  4. Stories and Reading Material: Storytelling is a significant component of these magazines. They often include short stories, fables, or serialized tales designed to encourage reading and comprehension skills.

  5. Interactive Activities: To keep children engaged, these magazines often include interactive activities like puzzles, mazes, coloring pages, and games. These activities can help children develop problem-solving skills and fine motor abilities.

  6. Themes and Topics: Magazines for ages 4-8 cover a wide range of themes and topics, from animals and nature to fantasy and adventure. The content is usually diverse to cater to different interests and to expose children to various subjects.

  7. Regular Issues and Subscriptions: Most magazines in this category offer subscriptions, allowing parents and caregivers to receive new issues on a regular basis. Subscriptions are convenient and often come with additional perks or gifts for young readers.

  8. Parental Involvement: These magazines often encourage parental involvement by providing suggestions for discussions or activities that parents can engage in with their children based on the magazine's content.

  9. Popular Titles: Some well-known magazines for ages 4-8 include "Highlights for Children," "National Geographic Kids," "Ranger Rick Jr.," "Chirp," "Ladybug," and "Storytime."

When choosing a magazine subscription for children in this age group, parents and caregivers typically consider their child's interests, the educational value of the content, and the overall suitability of the magazine. These magazines can be a valuable resource for fostering a love of reading and learning in young children.

Below you can find our editor's choice of the best magazines for ages 4 8 on the market
  

Highlights For Children

Highlights for Children

Based on 3 reviews Check latest price

Product description

In every 44-page issue of Highlights magazine, kids explore new topics, investigate fascinating subjects and find out about the world. This award-winning magazine for independent readers ages 6 and up has 12 months filled with fiction, nonfiction, Hidden Pictures scenes, skill-building puzzles, science experiments and more that are as entertaining as they are educational. Teachers, parents, grandparents and kids agree that Highlights magazine — a trusted publication for more than 70 years — strengthens reading abilities, promotes creativity, sharpens thinking skills, and helps build confidence.

Amazon.com Review

Reading and learning become fun for kids when they've got Highlights for Children magazine to entertain and teach them. Every issue is chock full of wholesome, challenging content that gets little minds going, so you can rest assured that the hours your child spends engrossed in the articles, puzzles, and activities is well worth the time. The magazine's philosophy focuses on encouraging kids to become more creative, more sensitive to others, and more able to think for themselves.



From science projects to jokes and puzzles, the content in Highlights for Children magazine will get your child's attention and keep it for longer than you imagined was possible. Kids love to figure out the answers to puzzles and quizzes themselves, making this magazine a departure from the instant-gratification culture often found in modern kid-oriented activities, publications, and apps. Kids can also submit their own art and writing for consideration in a reader-submitted section of the magazine.



Regular features every month in Highlights for Children magazine give kids a sense of familiarity that makes them comfortable even when faced with material that challenges their growing brains. The classic Timbertoes characters appear in every issue, and kids look forward to seeing these favorite friendly faces when they open the magazine cover. The combination of familiarity and new ideas helps kids develop the confidence to try new things and excel at things they've never done before.



Your children deserve engaging content that will excite and inspire them, and Highlights for Children magazine delivers fun articles, activities, and experiences that get your kids excited about learning new things.

Product features

HIDDEN PICTURES encourage persistence

Highlights’ famous seek-and-find puzzles (plus many more!) are a fun way for kids to practice concentration and attention to detail.

Games & activities deliver hours of play

Keep kids laughing and learning with everything from games and experiments, to recipes and crafts, all created for young learners.

Monthly deliveries introduce new topics

Each 44-page magazine includes poems, articles and stories from around the world. Kids can explore science, art, music and more.

Kids can share their voices

Every issue features letters, artwork and stories created by kids, helping young readers share their talents and points of view!

Jumbo Book of Amazing Mazes (Highlights™ Jumbo Books & Pads)

Highlights Press

Based on 1 reviews Check latest price

Ultimate Puzzle Challenge! (Highlights Jumbo Books & Pads)

Highlights Press

Based on 1 reviews Check latest price

Ranger Rick Jr.

National Wildlife Federation

Based on 955 reviews Check latest price

Product description

Ranger Rick Jr. is for children aged 3 to 7 years. Filled with fun activities, simple stories and wild animals that the little ones love. Ranger Rick Jr. draws preschoolers closer to nature and gets them ready to read. Youngsters will enjoy the seasonal crafts, simple cooking recipes, fun games, and more. Published monthly.

Amazon.com Review

Your Big Backyard magazine is full of animal fun and facts your child will find fascinating. It is uniquely designed for those four to seven years of age. Your Big Backyard magazine includes activities and simple stories that both entertain and educate.



Published by the National Wildlife Federation, Your Big Backyard magazine offers developing readers the opportunity to read stories on their own or follow along with a more advanced reader. Eye-catching photos bring animals to life, while fun wildlife trivia serves as a learning tool. Features include animal friends that teach reasoning, reading, and arithmetic skills throughout the magazine.



Your child will enjoy the 36 colorful pages packed full of photos, activities, games, and stories with each issue of Your Big Backyard magazine. Top-quality photos and well-written articles inform and interest young children. Parents and kids alike look forward to this magazine filled with activities, puzzles, and projects that teach animal facts in a fun way.



Your Big Backyard magazine lets children learn all about animal traits, habitats, and survival. The use of words and photos captivate young readers as they learn. Each issue invites them into a world of animals they can explore for hours.



Older siblings and parents often enjoy the activities and projects found in Your Big Backyard magazine as much as kids do. This publication effectively serves as an entertainment resource that also educates and inspires young children.

National Geographic Readers: Planets

National Geographic Kids

Based on 2 reviews Check latest price

Ask

Cricket Media

Based on 353 reviews Check latest price

Product description

Ask investigates the world with past and present inventors, artists, and thinkers, and scientists. From the publishers of Click, Ask offers cartoons, contests, projects, Web experiments, games, and puzzles for kids ages 7 to 10 (grades 2 - 4).

National Geographic Kids Ponies and Horses Sticker Activity Book: Over 1,000 Stickers! (NG Sticker Activity Books)

National Geographic Kids

Based on 1 reviews Check latest price

Highlights Hidden Pictures Sticker Fun 4-Book Set

Based on 851 reviews Check latest price
  • New look, same great content! A Highlights best-seller — 4 books of hidden-object puzzles with 480 stickers total!
  • Kids can place a sticker on each hidden object when they find it, then color in the rest of the scene for extra fun.
  • Peeling and placing stickers strengthens fine motor skills, important for handwriting.
  • Images labeled with words promote early vocabulary development, and searching for hidden objects increases kids’ concentration, attention to detail and other school skills while they have fun
  • Each puzzle scene features a family-friendly subject that kids can relate to, like class photo day, soccer practice, birthday parties and backyard fun. It’s hours of engaging seek-and-find entertainment!

User questions & answers

Question: Where are these manufactured
Answer: Protects your chest, shoulder, side of your abdomen, and your hands
Question: How many pages are in each book
Answer: Sorry only adult sizes.
Question: What age is this for
Answer: No there is no trick.

Product features

Highlights’ world-famous HIDDEN PICTURES books have all the excitement kids crave…
Fun with a Purpose

Highlights is a beloved global media brand dedicated to inspiring children to become Curious, Creative, Caring and Confident individuals. Through print and digital content that encourages thinking, creativity, self-expression and respect, Highlights helps kids build literacy, and other school and life skills, all while having fun. Highlights’ magazines, book clubs, apps, activity packs and more bring kids “Fun with a Purpose,” anytime, anywhere.

Off We Go! (Highlights™ Amazing Mazes)

Based on 12 reviews Check latest price

National Geographic Kids

National Geographic Partners LLC

Based on 11 reviews Check latest price

Product description

NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC KIDS is a fact-filled, fast-paced magazine created especially for ages 6 and up. With an award-winning combination of photos, facts, and fun, NG KIDS has captivated its more than one million readers for over 35 years. Articles and departments entertain and inspire readers to learn about their world with amazing information about animals, science, technology, archaeology, geography, and pop culture, plus jokes, games, activities in every issue.

Amazon.com Review

National Geographic Kids magazine is aimed at young readers from six years and up who want to find out more about the world around them. The magazine contains a superb blend of photos, fun facts, and articles presented in a cheery style, making it perfect for keeping kids' attention. National Geographic Kids magazine has been presenting information to kids in an accessible way for over thirty-five years.



You can expect the same kind of subjects to be included in National Geographic Kids magazine that you get in the adult version-animals, science, archaeology, and geography-but with technology and pop culture added to the mix too. As you might expect, there is also a strong emphasis on magnificent wildlife photography. Frequent appearances of animal posters can be found within the pages, as well as high-quality photographs sprinkled throughout the magazine. The addition of games and jokes, alongside other activities such as puzzles and competitions, keeps the subjects light, while still getting across the important facts.



Your children can explore ancient civilizations on one page, come face-to-face with exotic wildlife on another, and turn the next page to a make and do project, which is often perfect for homework. There are always plenty of gross/interesting facts about animals that your children are certain to share with you, or they can turn to the page that gives them the low-down on their favorite star. Regular competitions are sure to keep your kids involved too.



This quality publication ensures that your children learn while still having fun, so they are more likely to retain the information. National Geographic Kids magazine really helps to bring the world to life, and gets your children excited about learning.

Jumbo Book of Hidden Pictures® (Highlights Jumbo Books & Pads)

Highlights Press

Based on 4 reviews Check latest price

Product features

Highlights Hidden Pictures

Nobody knows kids' puzzling like Highlights! Hidden Pictures puzzles, entertaining kids for more than 70 years, are more than just seek-and-find activities. They're innovative, expertly crafted, and full of the humor and challenge kids love. Every Highlights Hidden Pictures book provides kids with fun and rewarding activities that build their self-confidence, perseverance, and problem-solving skills through play.

Promotes attention to detail and increases vocabulary

As kids gain experience in looking for hidden objects, they become better at focusing on the details of other visual challenges.

Reading the picture clues helps children become visually familiar with the names of many objects.

Instills good work habits

Because Hidden Pictures puzzles are so absorbing, children spend more time on the activity, thus increasing their concentration, persistence, and determination.

Using the picture clues encourages independence while solving puzzles.

Develops self-confidence

Age is not a determiner of success in completing a Hidden Pictures puzzle. A young child can often spot something that an adult or an older child misses—even in challenging puzzles. Imagine what that does for a child's confidence!

Family-friendly and time-tested!

Hidden Pictures puzzles are perfect for the entire family!

  • The first Hidden Pictures puzzle was published in 1946, in the very first issue of Highlights magazine and has appeared in every issue since.
  • The top three hidden objects of all time: pencil, toothbrush, banana.
  • The number of toothbrushes hidden in the puzzles since 1946: 2,417!

Highlights My First Hidden Pictures

For the youngest puzzler (ages 3-6), there are more than 100 hidden objects to find and 20 full-color Hidden Pictures puzzles in each book.

Highlights Sticker Hidden Pictures

Kids ages 3-6 will love the 8 pages of stickers and mix of full-color and classic black-and-white Hidden Pictures puzzles featuring favorite themes.

Highlights Hidden Pictures

Packed with more than 1,200 objects to find in over 100 puzzles, classic black-and-white Hidden Pictures for ages 6-up provide plenty of puzzling fun while building concentration skills.

Highlights Jumbo Books & Pads

Jumbo books and pads make great gifts for all puzzling fans, whether at home or on the go.

Highlights Hidden Pictures to Highlight

A unique seek-and-find puzzling experience for ages 6-up where every black-and-white Hidden Pictures puzzle is inverted with a black background, perfect for use with a fluorescent highlighter.

Highlights 101 Activity Books

Each of these themed collections features 101 of some of the most popular hidden objects in 70-plus years of Highlights magazine and includes bonus jokes, riddles, mazes, drawing activities, and more.

Highlights Hidden Pictures Silly Sticker Stories

Hidden Pictures puzzles are paired with fill-in-the-blank stories that kids can complete with colorful stickers, creating zany word combinations for laugh-out-loud fun.

Highlights Hidden Pictures Riddle Puzzle Pads

Hidden Pictures Riddle Puzzle Pads are perfect travel companions for on-the-go laughs and puzzling fun.

Ranger Rick

National Wildlife Federation

Based on 1 reviews Check latest price

Product description

Ranger Rick is for children ages 7 and up. Each issue is packed with amazing facts, stunning photos and outdoor adventures that help kids sharpen reading skills and develop a deeper appreciation for nature. A Parent's Choice Gold Award recipient in 1999. Published monthly.

Amazon.com Review

Give your child the gift of wildlife adventure with Ranger Rick magazine, published by the National Wildlife Foundation. Intended to instill a passion for nature and promote outdoor activities for kids ages seven and up, this magazine's ten issues per year will give your child exciting activities to spark their interest.



Ranger Rick magazine is the oldest children's nature magazine in print, with the first issue being published in January of 1967. Over 500,000 copies are in circulation and are printed on environmentally friendly processed paper. Named Periodical of the Year for Children in 2009, this magazine is sure to inspire your child through the adventures of Ranger Rick (a raccoon who wears a park ranger's hat) and his animal friends.



Each issue includes articles about various animals and environmental topics. Games, activities, riddles, poetry, contests, fictional stories, and nature news are also included in every magazine. Each article and column in Ranger Rick magazine is designed with nature and the environment in mind; the editors know that conservation and environmental awareness is best learned at a young age.



Help give your child a love of nature and animals by sharing each issue of this environmentally conscious and educational publication. Ranger Rick magazine has been enjoyed by children for over forty years, with many parents passing on their love of the magazine to their own children. Your child will gain knowledge and have fun all at the same time when his or her magazine arrives at your door each month.

Food Network Magazine The Big, Fun Kids Cookbook: 150+ Recipes for Young Chefs (Food Network Magazine's Kids Cookbooks)

Hearst Home Kids

Based on 3 reviews Check latest price

Product features

Easy Family Dinners

These recipes are simple to follow—and a blast to make! Find fun food trivia and smart test-kitchen tricks along the way.

Fun After-School Snacks

Choose from ants on a log, fruit and veggie fries, easy snack mixes and more.

Creative Desserts

Find shortcut treats you can make in minutes, plus amazing cakes for budding bakers.

Create Your Own Recipes

Design your own granola bars, chicken salad and more—just choose your mix-ins.

Pop Quizzes

Test your hot dog IQ, and find out how well you know your cereal shapes!

Fake-Out Cakes

Make a cake that looks just like a candy bar or a bowl of mac and cheese! Each recipe comes with step-by-step photos.

Special Coloring Book Section

Color a cupcake or an ice cream cone right in the book!

National Geographic Little Kids

National Geographic Partners LLC

Based on 3 reviews Check latest price

Product description

An innovative new magazine full of learning and fun for today's preschoolers and their parents! Bursting with lively photographs, engaging stories, and interactive picture games, each issue supplies you with fresh and imaginative teaching tools created by noted educators at National Geographic.

Amazon.com Review

Enrich your child's appreciation of the natural world with National Geographic Little Kids magazine. This magazine is primarily aimed at preschoolers, and kids from ages three to six will enjoy the content. It includes articles on animals from around the world, science, and cultural topics discussing life in other countries.



The large text and engaging full-color photographs in National Geographic Little Kids magazine help beginning readers explore the content on their own, and exciting activities throughout the magazine keep your child's interest so learning becomes fun. Some of the activities you can expect to find include age-appropriate mazes, matching games, counting exercises, and rhymes. Each issue also includes things parents and kids can do together, such as crafts, science activities, and recipes to try at home.



National Geographic Little Kids magazine is ad-free, so you can feel secure knowing your child isn't unduly influenced by advertisers while enjoying the articles and activities. It also includes questions for parents and kids to discuss the topics further, so you can use the content as a starting point to more in-depth investigation of things that spark your child's interest. The magazine comes six times a year, bringing new topics to your mailbox every other month to inspire your child's imagination and get him or her excited about learning more about the world.



Whether your little one is already fascinated with nature or you want to inspire a greater interest in the world, National Geographic Little Kids magazine offers a fun and fascinating way to teach your child about animals and plants, other cultures, and science.

Latest Reviews

View all