Lola Mummy, Lola (CBeebies BBC Weekly)

Member Name: abbadabbado

Product:	CBeebies BBC Weekly
Date:	01/05/09 (172 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: worth the smile on my baby's face

Disadvantages: appears cheap

I didn't realise I would be lured into the marketing ploy of magazines with my nearly two year old quite so soon in her life. I was only walking past the magazine section in the supermarket, and the cries of "Lola" in an excited voice made me turn to see what she had spotted.
Sitting there was of course the Cbeebies weekly magazine with quite a large picture of Lola from Charlie and Lola on the front cover.
The look of sheer excitement on my daughter's face made me melt and when I asked her if she would like the magazine, her shouts of yes and the big beam on her face sealed the deal. Yes I am a sucker, and yes I have been sucked into the marketing ploys.

Cbeebies magazine is a weekly subscription costing £1.99. For this you get the magazine, usually a sheet of stickers relating to activities inside the magazine, and the obligatory free toy that usually breaks within the first day.
This particular issue gave two puppets relating to the show Big and Small. They are actually quite a reasonable freebie for the magazine, as they have the prospect of lasting a few weeks before they become lost or discarded. Not all the toys are this good however, so be prepared.

I'm not usually a fan of buying magazines regularly as they rip too easily, especially when in very young hands such as a two year old, but at the same time I do find that occasionally the money is worth the smile on her face and the time spent sharing the activities within the magazine.
Cbeebies magazine split their pages into various activities containing colouring, sticker activities, stories, and crafts. There are also other activities that when read out by a grown up can encourage children to get moving around the room in a dance etc.
At the very start of the magazine there is a handy tip sheet which relates to what activity teaches different things to children. Examples of these are finding out, encouraging children to find out different things about the world. Feeling good, encouraging confidence building. Being creative, making things. Maths, simple matching games and counting activities.
There are others, but you get the idea. I like this as it tells the parents that just because your child is looking at a load of characters they watch and love on the TV; it doesn't mean they won't subconsciously be learning something whilst having fun with the magazine.

The magazine itself is 26 pages long and provides a good range of all the Cbeebies characters in each issue. Some weeks are better than others, but as I only buy these very occasionally I am never too worried about what is included. Perhaps this will change when my daughter gets older and I want her to actually enjoy the content as well as learning from it.
You are fooled into thinking the quality of the paper is fantastic when you first pick this magazine up as the front and back cover are made out of much thicker and better quality paper than the inner pages. Any young child would be able to tear the pages very easily, so it is an activity done under supervision if you want to at least get some monetary value from the magazine.
So far my two year old has been averagely good with it, and we have only have minor rips in excitement, and trying to pull stickers back off when stuck down etc.

For me overall I like the idea of this magazine as it takes away the TV but still giving the same characters. We spend about half an hour on a couple of different days doing the activities in this magazine. That for me is good value for money and it gives us quality time together doing something fresh and different that isn't reading the same books, playing with the same pots of playdoh etc.
If you have young children give it a go, you might be surprised. I would say the magazine is aimed at pre school children, but even my daughter under two is gaining from it.

Summary: a good way to engage in activity with toddlers