Making a magazine is a project for a group to get its teeth into - a real teamwork activity where everyone's contribution counts. When you design your own club magazine, you should make it as diverse as possible, to appeal to the full age range of children that you have with a whole variety of different interests. You could start off by bringing in a range of magazines for the children to look at. Examine the content. What appeals to them particularly? Are the subjects interesting? Is there anything missing in their opinion? It may also be helpful to make a list of typical magazine features, such as a contents page, letters page, a comic strip or advertisements.
Once the children have familiarised themselves with the structure of magazines, they can decide on the contribution they would like to make.
Some children might enjoy writing, and could try their hand at any number of different features. Perhaps a factual article about a subject that holds particular interest for them (caring for pets, or news of a favourite football team, for example), or a short story. They could write a review about the latest book they've read or a film they've seen, or give instructions for an activity they've enjoyed. Some children might like to write a short letter for publication, or a joke that makes them laugh.
Children could write down their contributions by hand, use a word processor or dictate to a willing scribe!
DAZZLING DESIGN.
There are plenty of jobs besides writing, though. Importantly, you'll need a volunteer to design a front cover for the magazine - which will also need a name, of course.
Artists can work on illustrations to go with the written text, or you may decide to include photographs, or even to have your own photo-shoot (with parents' permission to take and use photographs). If you have plenty of potential illustrators, you could have a gallery page or two, full of extra pictures. Word searches and crosswords are often featured in children's publications, along with dot-to-dot pictures to join up and colour in, and perhaps even a competition to enter. These can all be devised by children and included.
Designing the layout of a club magazine can be a bit of jigsaw puzzle, and so you may find it best to have a small group of children and a playworker focus on the task together. You'll need to decide on the size of the magazine - most are A4 size.
Rather than ask children to produce small drawings and text that can be difficult to work on, why not try letting them work ordinarily, and then reduce their work on a photocopier? The editors can then cut out the articles and move them around on the pages until they fit in a logical and attractive order. They can then be pasted down with a glue stick, and the whole magazine can be photocopied and stapled together.
Alternatively, if you have the facilities, you could scan the children's work into a computer and then reduce the size, before going on to design a layout using a desktop publishing programme.
Give some thought to the distribution of your magazine. You may be able to have a copy for each child to take home, but if this isn't practical for you, then perhaps you could have your own newstand with one or two copies available for parents and carers to read and return.
HERE IS THE NEWS...
Technology is coming down in price these days and therefore becoming much more accessible. Your setting may not have its own video camera, but the chances are you could arrange to borrow one, or even afford to hire one reasonably for a special activity.
Remember to check you are properly insured to use the camera at the club in case the camera is damaged, and that you have written permission from the parents and carers to film the children. It's certainly worth the effort of tracking down a video camera for use within a media theme as there are so many fantastic activities that you could try, such as producing your own regional news programme.
The group will need to think about what they would like to include, perhaps by discussing programmes they have seen. The news, weather and travel reports would be among the basics, but how about a 'good news' cheery item at the end, a look at events coming up in the region over the next week or even some adverts part way through? Talk about the people involved in all of this, both on and off the screen.
Once everyone has decided who will do what - the beauty of this programme is that it can have as many newsreaders and camera operators as necessary! - you might find it helpful to split into groups to focus on different aspects of the programme. The children who have chosen to work on the 'studio floor' could perhaps start with setting the scene, dedicating an area of the club to become a studio. They will need to decide where the people who are 'on screen' will be, and then develop a set for them...a table for a desk, some chairs, perhaps a jug of water and glasses, or some paper to shuffle! They could even mould small clip on microphones to wear from paper.
Think about the background, too. It can be effective to have the name of the programme painted on a large piece of paper along witha logo, hung up behind the newsreaders. The group could also draw a large weather map for the weather forecaster to refer to in their segment of the programme. You could make moveable rain clouds and 'suns' that can be pulled off the map and stuck on again.
BACK-STAGE BOYS
The children will also need to decide on their roles while the show is 'on air'. Will they be a floor manager, in charge of giving the reporters their cues? Will they be a camera operator filming a section of the programme, or will they have the important job of humming the programme's theme music or replicating Big Ben's chimes?!
ON CAMERA
When it comes to filming the programme, you'll need to make sure the playworker leading the activity is comfortable with how to operate the camera before introducing it to the children. Discuss how to hold and handle the camera carefully and how to alter the hand strap to fit each person securely - this should minimise the risk of the equipment ending up on the floor! You may have access to a tripod, which would also be good to experiment with. Have your camera operators practise by videoing one another, trying out the zoom features and holding the camera steadily. They may also need to practise keeping quiet when filming so as not to drown out the newsreaders! Plan in advance any special filming techniques... maybe the camera will be trained on the programme's sign at the beginning while the theme song is sung, or perhaps the camera-person will do a 'voice-over', introducing the newsreader before focussing the camera on them.
The children who are to be 'on-screen' will need to decide what to say.
Some might like to ad lib, others may prefer to write down and read out their piece, while some may enjoy learning their lines. For inspiration, the children could turn to a local newspaper, or recall recent events. They might enjoy making up their news entirely, which could be as imaginative as they like. One child I know, gave a very exciting news bulletin about a herd of zebra using the appropriate crossing in his local high street!
Once a running order has been decided and everyone has had the opportunity to practice, do a 'take' and film the programme. Remember, you can pause the filming as many times as you like to hand over from one reporter or camera operator to the next. The children will probably want to watch their programme right away on the screen, so don't forget to arrange access to a television. And be prepared to rewind and watch it, again and again and again!
