Andy’s Amazing Adventures from CBeebies

POD’s always been a little explorer so she’s fascinated by programmes like Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures and Andy’s Wild Adventures on CBeebies. I’m sure she’ll enjoy the forthcoming Andy’s Prehistoric Adventures just as much. In the meantime CBeebies has launched Andy’s Amazing Adventures magazine which has been created in association with the BBC Natural History Unit. It combines all the facts on dinosaurs and amazing reptiles that lived millions of years ago, providing children with the opportunity to learn about prehistoric creatures and incredible wildlife.

Designed for little explorers (aged 3-6) who love dinosaurs and wild animals, Andy’s Amazing Adventures is the only magazine to bring millions of years of natural history to life. It’s a brilliant way to travel through time, meet interesting creatures, face dangers and problem solve along the way. Filled with puzzles, stickers, colouring and stories, it’s a really well thought out title and it comes with a free gift every month.

The magazine is an exciting voyage of discovery and POD was thrilled when it arrived. She immediately named the T-Rex grabber Crunchy Byega Pyega (no idea where that came from!) and the 5 mini dinos Lofty, Toga, George, Ella and Spike. A spot of pretend play ensued, which mostly involved the T-Rex chasing the mini dinosaurs, before she got stuck into the magazine.

Andy’s Amazing Adventures magazine is based on the 7 key areas of learning that support early years development so children can learn as they play. There are creatures from past and present, discoveries to be made and an array of challenges that incorporate drawing, sticking and comparing sizes or shapes. There are also things to make, like your very own explorer kit or a home for the mini dinosaurs, and stories to be told. POD’s been learning about the ocean so she was delighted to discover facts about a hammerhead shark in the super swimmers section. We also talked about the Elasmosaurus, which is longer than a bus, Ammonites, which lived 200 million years ago, and Octopuses.

The action starts on the very first page where POD got to say hello to Andy’s friends at the museum. Using the stickers provided, she was able to give Andy his museum badge with his friends receiving stickers too. She then learnt about the Allosaurus, from 150 million years ago, and stuck each of her dinosaur stickers onto a page – ticking off each as she went. Once she’d done some sticking, she set about adding colour to a rather splendid Stegosaurus while we talked about its spikes.

There are a number of puzzles in the magazine, POD enjoyed helping Andy find his way through a maze and race against time. Many of these have an educational element like counting, comparing sizes and shapes or understanding scale and time. There’s also a Dino Dash game where players can race their dinosaurs to the watering hole. Andy’s Amazing Adventures magazine is fantastic and really is jam packed with something interesting on every single page. It’s fascinating too making a refreshing change to some of the magazines we’ve had in the past. I cannot recommend it highly enough, we’re already huge fans! Andy’s Amazing Adventures magazine is available from Wednesday 10th February.

Disclaimer: We received a copy of Andy’s Amazing Adventures (as part of a one year subscription) for the purpose of this review. Opinions are as always our own.