Why should Parents & Children subscribe to the "SaY" Magazine
Stories and more from the children for the children.
More creativity and promotion of the latent talent of our children is the idea behind "SaY". The monthly subscription magazine founded by Spin A Yarn India offers a creative all-round package for children and parents. What is special about it is that the content is developed by children or at least pre-selected by children - and thus is especially well suited to the needs of children.
What is "SaY"? And what it isn't? In a sentence or two?
"SaY" is a monthly subscription magazine - an all-round creative package with stories, poetry, arts & crafts, games, experiments, recipes and tips for cultural events - everything you need for creative leisure activities. The unique thing about "SaY" is that it is made by children for children.
"SaY" is not: exemplary catalogue tinkering or designing, where the parents end up doing everything on their own. Instead, all ideas in the creative magazine have been tested and implemented by children between 6-14 years of age beforehand and stimulate free creativity and imagination. The parents can learn a lot from the children.
Who had the idea for this and how did you'll get it?
"SaY" was founded by Spin A Yarn India. Out of our own need for creative platform for children. And because we couldn't find a magazine that was worth anything in terms of content and learning for the children.
At first sight "SaY" is primarily about storytelling. But behind it there is also your own idea of creativity. And your own learning concept. Can you briefly outline both?
Learning along the way is the goal. The end product is not in the foreground, but rather the process of how to get to the end product and what the children learn. We have observed in ourselves and also in our children that it is very important to promote creativity offline - especially in times of digitalisation. We have also noticed on our career paths how important creativity is in professional life and how it has helped us personally. Moreover, being creative together connects parents and children.
All our creative stories, poems, art and craft etc. were designed and made by children. This distinguishes us from other outlets, where almost always adults do the work for the children. The children are not frustrated by following our approach, because their work will have its own character and they can be proud of it.
What was the first step towards the realisation of the idea? And what was the biggest hurdle that had to be overcome?
For a creative magazine, this was a very 'boring' process: 1. draw up a business plan 2. involve experts (PHZ, pedagogues, schools, parents, children) and draw up a learning concept 3. implement the first edition / at the same time look for cooperation partners 4. result: monthly subscription creative magazine without advertising and build a model that is currently financed only by subscriptions.
Our biggest hurdle: financing. There are still a lot of people working for free or with a small salary, because they stand behind the idea and think "SaY" is cool.
Who is on the core team today?
Shikha Dalmia-Deshmukh, Anup Deshmukh, plus a freelance photographer, graphic designer, copywriter, educators, parents and children.
We have a group of Advisors from the field of publishing, education, marketing, etc. supporting and guiding our core team and the children.
How does the process work for you when you develop a new idea for "SaY"? Is your primary target group involved, so are your ideas always tested by children?
We decide on the idea or the topic for a new magazine 2 months in advance. But sometimes we change it at short notice. Of course we adapt the topics to the season or to a specific occasion.
We try to approach a topic in as many different ways as possible and look for suitable stories, music or plays on a specific topic.
Process: 1. define topic, 2. collect ideas and send them to the educators, parents, children for feedback, 3. send craft, artwork and design work to the parents with always a few additional instructions, because only what the children enjoy comes in 4. the photos are taken in the studio 5. we write the instructions and give everything again to the round for approval 6. contact cooperation partners, musicians and organisers 7. graphic designer makes the final artwork
Yes, our target group is always involved, this is central to the "SaY" magazine. We also test, design, bake and cook with our own children.
Why does the world need your magazine? What does it do for the children? And probably just as important: What are the benefits for the parents?
Especially today, when time is running out and family schedules are full of school, hobbies and sports, it is important to us to offer a way to take a breath with "SaY" and to provide inspiration to children who need to stay far away from the i-Pad or Netflix.
It should encourage parents as well as children to let their imagination run free without expectations and pressure. This way everybody gets something out of it and with "SaY" you can start get inspiration for letting your creative side loose!
For parents:
We offer parents an all-inclusive package of content within the magazine as well as parenting, education-related as well as mental-health related topics via our online platform. We offer seasonal creative ideas for handicrafts, playing, experimenting, cooking/baking plus current event tips. Everything has been vetted by the children for the children.
"SaY" also has print-optimised PDF templates to download which come come in handy for parents wanting to learn about new topics and help their children with additional tips & tricks.
For children:
Children's fine and gross motor skills, creativity, cognitive skills etc. are encouraged.
Cool ideas that have been tested and co-developed by other children. Creative time together with parents or together with other children always discovering and trying out new things.
Thank you.
For the Love of Lore.