Clubhouse Jr. is an award-winning Christian magazine for children ages 3-7. Through stories, crafts, puzzles, and cooking, children learn Christian beliefs and family values. Clubhouse Jr. is published monthly from Focus on the Family, based out of Colorado, and has a circulation of approximately 60,000. Clubhouse Jr. has a companion magazine called Clubhouse for children ages 8-12. Overview Members Only section: Kids submit artwork usually in answer to a specific featured question. Rebus: "Special Eggs," 2 page spread. When Madison visits Grandpa's farm, special eggs are waiting for her. After determining that the eggs for breakfast and for Easter aren't the special eggs, Madison soon discovers broken eggshells in the barn. Madison is surprised to see baby chicks! Bible Story: "Teaching the Teachers," 3 page spread, based on Luke 2:41-52, 1st person point of view. An eight-year-old boy is shocked when he sees boy Jesus enter the temple and sit with the rabbis instead of the boys. And even more surprising, Jesus asks the rabbis a question. Overhearing the discussion, the boy realizes that Jesus is really the Messiah. Poem: "Thank You," 4 verses, rhyming, 1st person point of view. A boy tells God thank you for different aspects of nature. Craft: "Wooly Lamb," 1 page, lists items needed and directions, photograph. Recipe: "Rolled Away," 1 page, breakfast buns made to look like an empty tomb for Easter. Fiction: "Fishstick and the Tiny Timeout Bowl," 3 page spread, 3rd person point of view. When a new fish Marigold is added to Fishstick and Racer's aquarium, Fishstick becomes jealous and scares Marigold while she's racing around the castle with Racer. Jenny, their owner, sees it and puts Fishstick in his own little bowl. After a night alone, Fishstick is returned and apologizes. The fish have fun and eat treats together from Jenny. Nonfiction: "Crabby Critter," 3 page spread. This article highlights information about the coconut crab with four questions interspersed to draw in the reader. Additional five small paragraphs with headings give fun facts about this creature. Jokes: Kids send in jokes to the editor. Tina's Experience My children are subscribed to Clubhouse Jr., and I've had two rebuses and one feature nonfiction accepted by them. My nonfiction article "Sleeping Creatures" even made the cover of the September 2011 issue! And my nine-year-old daughter had one of her jokes published in the "Just Kidding" section. The publishing crew has been fabulous to work with! Current Needs as Shared by the Editor We especially need stories about real, "ordinary" kids who are doing "extraordinary" things. A few recent examples are stories about kids who 1) ran a 5K to raise funds to dig wells in Africa, 2) knitted hats for a Pregnancy Resource Center and 3) made/sold crafts to buy mosquito nets to protect kids from malaria. We also need rebus stories and rhyming poetry that tells a story and has a good takeaway value or an educational purpose. Lesser-known Bible stories told from a unique perspective can be a good fit for us. Finally, we need animal or nature pieces that feature 3 to 5 animals with unique characteristics (recent examples: animals that come out at night, animals with amazing flexibility, bioluminescent plants and animals). Helpful Tips from Tina You can write by regular post to the editorial assistant and request a theme list. The fiction story reinforces the monthly theme. Sometimes the characters are children, and sometimes they are animals. Rebuses usually have a surprise twist ending and are longer than rebuses for other magazines. For nonfiction pieces, be sure to document your facts on your own notes for later fact checking. Sidebars are not included, but catchy headings with fun facts that can also relate to children are used along with questions posed directly to the reader. The magazine also features holiday pieces. Check out their web site to get a feel for the magazine. Submission Guidelines: www.clubhousejr.com/submission-guidelines Editorial assistant: Mr. Stephen O'Rear Associate Editor: Mrs. Joanna Echols Editor: Mr. Jesse Florea Writing for Children's Magazines, April 2012   Copyright Tina Cho

Tina M. Cho is an author of 20 guided reading books from Lakeshore Learning and Compass Media. A craft/devotion book for girls will be published in 2013 from Legacy Press. Tina is currently writing a nonfiction book for girls for Legacy Press/Rainbow Publishers. She also rewrites and edits for Mirae Publishing, a publisher of English language textbooks in Korea. She has written other stories and articles for children and teachers which are listed on her blog. Tina is participating in the 12x12 in 2012 Picture Book Challenge, writing 12 picture book manuscripts in 12 months.