Club Kidsoft

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KidSoft Inc. was an educational software company based in Los Gatos, CA. It was started in May 1992 by Richard Devine and Charles Patterson, in conjunction with Alison Woods (partner at Woods+Woods Design), Audrey Mac Clean, and Karen Schultz.

The ClubKidsoft children's magazine and catalog concept was the brainchild from a creative collaboration between Designer/Art Director Alison Woods and copywriter Paula Polley. The first prototypes were developed by Woods+Woods Design and used for raising the first round of venture funding for the project. Alison Woods was brought on board as vice president and creative director to oversee the creative direction of the magazine and CD-ROM and Paula Polley worked remotely as the senior copywriter and editor.

The enterprise was subsequently managed by Dan’l Lewin^[1] (formerly the head of education at Apple Computer) and Lucia Steinhilber.

Howard Blumenthal (formerly the creator/producer of PBS series, Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego) came on board to develop a TV series for the project, which was never actualized. After the TV show concept was killed, Howard took creative control of the final issue of the magazine and CD-ROM before the entire enterprise was disbanded.

In its heyday, Club Kidsoft was a quarterly children's magazine and CD-ROM disc, focusing on educational software. It was the first computer magazine for children, and ultimately reached a circulation of over 100,000.

The combined magazine and CD-ROM had an annual subscription cost of $15.95 (USD). Soon after launch, the magazine and the catalog were separated. The reworked magazine featured articles and activities related to children's use of computers; these were supported by KidSoft-produced activities on the CD-ROM.

In an effort to increase its subscriber base, KidSoft signed deals to bundle the CD-ROM portion of its magazine with new Apple Performas and Compaq Presarios.