My folks have seen kids magazines which litter the bottom shelf of newsstands in perfect reach for little ones to pick up and browse through. Pink princess ones, Disney ones all with tempting free plastic toys to draw children in. Until now they haven’t really thought about buying one for me or even that I would attempt to read it or look at the pages, that was until now…

We were kindly sent a copy of Something Special magazine to review. It is based on the successful CBeebies television programme Something Special starring Justin Fletcher and his much-loved alter-ego Mr Tumble.

Being 3 years old, I’ve watched Mr Tumble on telly before, my mummy has found all the Makaton sign language fascinating and we’ve even learnt some through nursery and sing & sign classes. But it’s great to see it in printed form to keep.

Something Special has been especially created so it can be enjoyed by all children, whatever their ability. It’s the only pre-school magazine that helps its readers and their families communicate using the signing system of Makaton.

Every issue of Something Special magazine is packed with fun and accessible activities and stories, featuring Makaton signs on every page. It’s filled with my favourite Tumble characters and we join them on their adventures in Tumbleton and explore the world with Justin as we browse through the pages. The Something Special magazine team consult with professionals from SEN schools, The Makaton Charity and the National Autistic Society. They ask parents what they think of the magazine too in order to keep it jam-packed with fun and educational material. It’s not all about the pretty pictures – it’s a great learning resource.

There are free activities on the cover and on this edition we get a puppet to make and an explorer kit! I can’t wait to get my hands on it. It helps that it’s covered in lovely patterns and primary colours too. Even my mummy wants to read it. So we share and go through it together.

What makes this edition extra special is that it’s interactive!! How you may ask? Does Mr Tumble jump out of the page and start talking to us?!?

Well yes.

Using a nifty little app called Blippar, my mummy can scan the pages with her mobile phone (or tablet) and it unlocks a hidden doorway to another magical world.

This edition takes us through a day in the life of Mr Tumble. I enjoy making a puppet with the materials provided on the front cover, we get tips of how to do it by scanning the page with the Blippar app and we watch my mummy’s phone for a couple of seconds then turn it off and create our masterpiece. I also study the pictures in the magazine and copy the placement of the puppet elements.
We have great fun playing with this crafting element.

Next up we help wake up Mr Tumble and he teaches us some signing. In each page of the magazine there is a ‘Time to Sign’ section which is useful. Even my mummy learns something new!

Once you complete each activity on a page you get a sticker reward to say that you’ve finished the page. I find it a great challenge and it helps me focus on what I’m doing as opposed to flicking through the pages in a random order.

There is a section for colouring in and drawing, stories with Tumble Ted and readers pictures. The Blipp Icon for the Blippar app is clearly marked on the pages where the interactivity can be extended. This really adds to the whole experience and we think it’s great and really easy to use!

We enjoy watching Mr Tumble colour in his rainbow and sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Throughout the magazine he also leaves us little messages which keeps my attention.

I ask if Mr Tumble is trapped inside the pages, my mummy says that he lives inside my magazine, so whenever I want to see him I just open it up. I promptly take the magazine up to bed and go to sleep with it. So the Something Special magazine was a resounding success!

Have you tried this new interactive edition? Issue 68 is out now at £3.99 which we think is great vaule for money! This magazine has really impressed us, so much so that we will be reading it month after month now. Shame we didn’t discover it sooner!!

Love Bella, with the help of her mummy. x

Disclosure: We received this magazine in order to write an honest review.