DC Super Friends Magazine #Review

September 19th 2013 sees the launch of the new DC Super Friends magazine, available in newsagents and supermarkets for £2.99. It is a new Super hero magazine catering for pre-schoolers aged 2-5 years old. The Super Friends (Batman, Superman, The Flash and Green Lantern to name a few) feature throughout the magazine in a variety of creative ways designed to help enable the pre-schooler to develop in the 7 areas of learning that support the early years development.

We were given the opportunity to review the magazine as my youngest is 4 years old. I was really surprised at how well the magazine suited him, because he doesn’t really have a long attention span. We sat with the magazine for about an hour together, before he went on to play with the Batman and BatMobile we had created, and then watched a Super Hero film.

The first thing I think most children notice about a magazine is the toy. When you are looking along the shelves it is what grabs their attention. You will be pleased to know that the toy in this issue was two communicators –  featuring 4 of the  Super Friends to choose from – Superman, The Flash, Batman, Green Lantern, you just pull out and flip them over. This was good for hand manipulation skills, as was the fact that you can spin the dials.

As the Super Friends which were featured on the communicator was also in the book, my son was able to match them. I liked the way that the communicators were incorporated into the magazine – such as on the page with the track game: Batman to the rescue. Where you race along the trail to help Batman and the Super Friends protect Gotham City from evil.

This was great for hand control; first I encouraged him to follow the track with his finger, and then to use a pencil.

I was told that teaching your child to hold a pencil properly is one of the most important things you can encourage your children to do before starting school. It is also important for us as he is hyper-mobile in his hands.

DC Super Friends helps to stimulate the imagination of children through play activities and great stories of good role models uniting through friendship. We were thrilled with the variety of things contained within the magazine to really keep my son’s interest. There are stories; Pictures to colour; Count the S-Shields and draw over the number (9); Things to find and count…..

Spot the pictures the same and tick the star when you find them; Spot the difference; Character fact files; Finder the joker – hiding in the magazine (oh he was so proud of himself when he found him), and sections of pictures to match up.

One of the pages asked your child to think about what colour the Super Friends are not wearing. Then to identify what colour they are wearing – match it with the correct coloured star. My son also identified with which Super Friend was the most like himself in colour. It happened to be Batman (blue) and so what a wonderful find that he could become  Batman; with a mask to cut out and wear, plus a symbol to pin to his shirt.

Our favourite part was possibly to make a Batmobile.

It was quiet straight forward to make too.

There was good skills of him holding the card still as he put the glue on.

Smoothing the paper flat was really good for his hands (and am  sure his Occupational Therapist would have been pleased).

I then cut it out for him.

He loved it.

The magazine then suggests inspirational ideas for taking play further, such as using toys, cardboard tubes and empty boxes to accompany the playing of the Batmobile.

We love Toilet Roll Holders so we made a Batman.

Simply grey painted Toilet Roll Holder

Using the mask picture as a guide I cut out the mask.

With my son telling me he needed eyes.
and a mouth and “pink” face. It is so lovely him being able to identify and communicate what we need – plus knowing the right colours.

He was so pleased with his magazine and new Batman and Batmobile that he told each and every person who came to our house there after.

He played with them until bedtime, and it certainly has sparked off some more creative ideas.

There is also a competition to Win Dc Super Friends toys – Batcave Playset and Figurines. 8 lucky readers will win a fantastic new Imaginext® Batcave playset as well as the great Imaginext® DC Super Friends Figurines including The Penguin, The Joker and Mr. Freeze! Answer a question and post it to be received by the 19^th October 2013 deadline.

And of course the magazine has a section for fan mail/children’s pictures.

There are details of how you can save up to 20% by subscribing, with a free gift and delivered directly to your door – or go direct to www.titanmagazines.com/

I received a free magazine in order to review it. All opinions are honest and my own.