Kids’ Magazines

Whether you’re interested in comets or cooking, photography or soccer or mystery stories, there’s bound to be a magazine in which you can explore your interests. Many can be found on the Internet. Magazines can inform you of recent discoveries, teach you valuable techniques, inspire you with ideas and connect you with fellow enthusiasts. Discover the joy of reading magazines and learning about what fascinates you through the direct links on The Times’ Launch Point Web site: http://ukobiw.net/launchpoint/

Level 1

TIME for Kids: Find out what’s going on around the world through this kids’ version of Time magazine available in English and Spanish. Submit your opinions on issues and try out activities related to the presidential election.

* https://pathfinder.com/TFK/

Sports Illustrated for Kids: What does a batter need to do to be awarded the Triple Crown in baseball? What trophy is given each season to the best player in college football? Give your sports trivia muscles a workout and keep up to date with events with this interactive magazine.

* https://www.sikids.com/

Weekly Reader Galaxy: No matter what grade you are in, you’ll find news articles to read and a variety of fun activities to test your wits, ranging from science trivia to history quizzes and geography. Read articles by other students and vote in a weekly poll.

* https://www.weeklyreader.com/index.html

Level 2

Junior Scholastic Magazine: Keep up to date on current events through this informative news magazine, which also explores historical events and offers opportunities to voice your opinion on important issues.

* https://teacher.scholastic.com/newszone/snjunior/index.asp

National Geographic Magazine: Travel under water or to outer space, meet polar bears or listen to a frog symphony through this multimedia magazine. This site features maps, articles, photos and interactive activities on a range of subjects, from dinosaur eggs to pirates.

* https://www.nationalgeographic.com/

Yahooligans: Magazines: Whether you’re into science or sports, art or stories, use this directory of kid-oriented magazines to explore your interests.

https://www.yahooligans.com/School_Bell/Language_Arts/Magazines/

Level 3

The Why Files: Science Behind the News: Why are ants the original farmers? And how can science be used to detect art fraud or to improve the performance of Olympic athletes? Step behind the headlines and have fun learning about various applications of science through this monthly online magazine.

* https://whyfiles.news.wisc.edu/index.html

Teen Ink: A Magazine Written by Teens for Teens: Find out what teens across the country are thinking through this magazine written entirely by teenagers. Submit your own work.

* https://www.teenink.com

All-Stater Sports Magazine: Do you play high school sports? Check out information on rankings, read interviews with top high school athletes and find out ways to improve your performance through tips such as soccer star Mia Hamm’s strategies for practice.

* https://www.all-statersports.com/

EXPLORER’S QUEST

The answer to this Internet quiz can be found in the sites at right.

Why is it unusual that Cal Ripken became the 24th player to reach 3,000 hits?

CLUE: See Sports Illustrated for Kids

Find What You Need to Know: Have a project on California history? Need help doing a math problem? Launch Point now covers more than 100 topics for getting your schoolwork done. Go to http://ukobiw.net/launchpoint/ for the full list of subjects and direct links to the best Internet sites.

Answer to last week’s Quest: Though 1,000 years separate the societies of Alexandria in AD 1 and Cordoba in AD 1000, these two cultures both used a form of dice as part of their favorite games.

Launch Point is produced by the UC Irvine department of education, which reviews each site for appropriateness and quality. Even so, parents should supervise their children’s use of the Internet. This column was designed by Sommer Mitchell, Hans Lunow, Tim Horrigan and Anna Manring.