Suggestions for magazines that are age approprite for a tween girl?

queenofthehivemomof5 · 08-25-2009, 08:28:08 AM

I have a 12 year old daughter that would like to get a magazine subscription to a teen type magazine to read for fashion, make up, hair, and I guess other issues that are important to this age. She is going into junior high this year and while she is not a fashionista she is starting to care about it a bit more. However I looked at the magazine offerings at Walmart yesterday while I was in there getting something and was not impressed with the selection of magazines. The options were Teen Vogue and Seventeen (both which were geared to much older girls..fashion was too revealing, make up was too heavy, and topics seemed a bit mature for a 12 year old. Then there was American Girl magazine which seemed a bit too young (more like 10-11 in my opinion) and then the teeny bopper celebrity magazines with pictures of Miley Cirus and The Jonas brothers. And while that is pretty harmless it is not really what I am looking for here.

So does anyone have any recomendations for age appropriate magazines for a 12-13 year old?

I am open to all suggestions however while I am not a prude I am also not about letting my 12 year old wear revealing clothes, gobs of make up, and I want to foster healthy body image and responsibility for her body.

For an example she can wear make up..but it is limited to face powder, light colored lipstick/gloss, and neutral eye shadow and brown mascara. Right now she rarely wears make up. 99% of the time she does not, however when going somewhere special she might put a little on.

She cannot wear anything that reveals her butt crack or midrift (bathing suit is OK) or too much cleavage. And really she is pretty modest right now anyways.

She can cut/color her hair anyway she wants to...its just hair...but she has to pay for it. She got a modest medium length with layers yesterday. But if she wanted to shave her head and dye it blue that would be OK with me...

But we are a no pericings other than the ears aint gonna happen kind of family. Right now she has one hole in each ear and we will allow her to have a second hole put in her ears when she turns 13 if she wants to. However she has not indicated any such desire as of yet that she wants this.

She is not even remotly into dating (and that is a GOOD thing) so I don't want to give her all sorts of ideas about sex and boys just yet, however I want her to have good information about respect for her body and fostering appropriate relationships with boys.

Anyways enough about all that...any magazine suggestions?

cheynesnana · 08-25-2009, 08:37:58 AM

How about Girl's Life.. and there's a couple more on this page too...

Gift Idea: Girls' Life Magazine

Cynthiabutterfly · 08-25-2009, 08:39:45 AM

Yeah.... nope.

Honestly this is not the kind of information available in mainstream mags.

I remember being that age, and just being around other 'normal' girls made me feel better and less like I was some kind of freak for not being like the girls in the Seventeen magazine.

Maybe some activities or church group girls she could hang out with would be a better influence for her.

leqet · 08-25-2009, 08:49:03 AM

A really good one used to be Brio, but they sold it to a new company and stopped doing subscriptions. You can keep an eye on their website anyway and they might be re-publishing soon. http://briomag.com

Also there's a new one by the former editor of Brio called Susie. Susie Magazine - SUSIE Magazine - A Global Sisterhood for Teen Girls I don't know anything about it though or the target age group. These are Christian mags, though so even if a topic covers dating or something too old for your DD it shouldn't be too inappropriate.

queenofthehivemomof5 · 08-25-2009, 08:53:31 AM

She is in church group and a few activities (she just finished a girls in engineering camp last week) and is showing interest in joining the ski club and volunteering at the planetarium as after school activities this year.

We do all that...just looking for recommendations as she wants a magazine to read and I am OK with that provided that it is not too mature.

I should also note that she has Aspbergers and she has a hard time fitting in with the other kids because she is 1.) really smart and 2.) she has issues with her social skills sometimes. So finding appropriate ways to fit in can really help her not be picked on as much by the other kids.

tmsmalley · 08-25-2009, 11:27:26 AM

That is SUCH a tough age to find appropriate resources for. Same issue with novels. For books, by the way, I recommend anything by K.L. Peyton. She wrote about girls and horses and mysteries that are really perfect for that middle-school age. Your daughter might really enjoy them.

Now, on to what you asked for, not a magazine but a book that might be really good. I haven't read it but from what I know, I think this might be just what you're looking for. Tyra Banks- Beauty Inside. Tyra has really good messages about self-image, etc. that I think would be very appropriate.

Also, there was another one recommend on another board I frequent. I'll try and find it. It was something like "Care and Feeding of Me" but obviously that's not quite it because I can't find it. I'll look and let you know.

Finally, while surfing through Barnes and Noble, I came across this:
Social Success Workbook for Teens, Instant Help Ser., Barbara Cooper, Book - Barnes & Noble

You might want to have a look and see if it would be helpful for your daughter.

All the best!

Tess (mom to two girls 5 and 3 and step-mom to two girls 13 and 16)