Highlights Subscription Guide: Magazines, Boxes and Prices

If you grew up in the US, you probably remember Highlights from a doctor’s waiting room: Hidden Pictures, Goofus and Gallant, jokes on the back pages. The magazine is still going strong more than 75 years later, and today Highlights is a whole family of kids subscriptions, from a baby magazine with wipe clean pages to monthly puzzle clubs, leveled book clubs and learning boxes.

That range is great, but it also makes it easy to pick the wrong one. Below we break down every Highlights subscription by age, what comes in it and what it costs, plus which ones we think are worth your money.

Highlights subscriptions at a glance

Subscription	Ages	What you get	Regular price
Hello magazine	0 to 2	16 page board style issue every month	$48 a year
High Five magazine	2 to 6	36 page issue every month	$48 a year
Highlights magazine	6 to 12	44 page issue every month	$48 a year
brainPLAY magazine	7 and up	32 pages of puzzles every other month	$24 a year
Puzzle Buzz club	4 to 7	Two 32 page puzzle books a month	$15 a month or $120 a year
Puzzlemania club	7 and up	Two 32 page puzzle books a month	$15 a month or $120 a year
High Five Activity Box	3 to 6	Storybook, crafts, activity and recipes every other month	$39 a box
I Can Read! Book Club	Early readers	5 leveled books a month	$29 a month
Learning Boxes	PreK to 1st grade	Monthly school skills kit	$29 a month

Shipping is always free on every Highlights subscription, and all of them renew automatically until you cancel. Highlights almost always runs a discount on the first box or the first year, so it rarely pays to check out at full price.

Highlights magazine (ages 6 to 12)

The flagship. Each 44 page issue mixes short stories, science experiments, crafts, jokes, a recipe or two and, of course, puzzles, including the famous Hidden Pictures. At $48 a year for 12 issues, that is $4 an issue, which is cheap for something kids actually read cover to cover.

Our take: this is the best value in the Highlights lineup and the one we would pick first for a 6 to 9 year old. Kids at the top of the age range, around 11 or 12, may start to feel it is a little young for them.

High Five (ages 2 to 6) and Hello (ages 0 to 2)

High Five is the preschool and kindergarten version. Every 36 page issue has read aloud stories, simple puzzles, crafts and recipes, with a focus on early reading, math and social emotional skills. It is ad free and has won Preschool Periodical of the Year. A Spanish and English version, High Five Bilingüe, is also available.

Hello is for babies and toddlers. Each 16 page issue follows one theme, like Farm Animals or Food, and the pages are thick, wipe clean and moisture resistant, sized for little hands. It ships in a sealed envelope. If you have a baby who chews everything, this is the one magazine that will survive.

Both cost $48 a year for 12 issues. High Five is the easy recommendation. Hello is a lovely gift, but at 16 pages it gets read fast, so think of it as a board book that shows up every month.

Highlights High Five magazine for preschoolers — High Five is made for ages 2 to 6

Highlights Hello magazine for babies and toddlers — Hello has sturdy, wipe clean pages for ages 0 to 2

Highlights puzzle subscriptions: brainPLAY, Puzzle Buzz and Puzzlemania

If your kid flips straight to the Hidden Pictures page, Highlights has three all puzzle options:

brainPLAY is a 32 page all puzzle magazine for ages 7 and up, with Hidden Pictures, logic puzzles and brain teasers. It ships every other month for $24 a year, so 6 issues. It pairs well with a regular Highlights subscription.
Puzzle Buzz is a puzzle book club for ages 4 to 7. Each month brings two 32 page books with dot to dots, beginner word searches, mazes, matching games and sticker puzzles.
Puzzlemania is the same format for ages 7 and up, with codes, word games and Hidden Pictures sticker puzzles.

Both puzzle clubs cost $15 a month (the first shipment is usually discounted) or $120 a year, which saves you $60. Our take: Puzzlemania is the best Highlights product for road trips and screen free afternoons. Kids can do it on their own, and the sticker puzzles are a hit. If budget is tight, brainPLAY gets you most of the fun for a fraction of the price.

Highlights brainPLAY all puzzle magazine — brainPLAY is all puzzles, every page

Highlights Puzzlemania puzzle book for ages 7 and up — Puzzlemania is the step up for ages 7 and up

Highlights Puzzle Buzz puzzle book for ages 4 to 7 — Puzzle Buzz sends two 32 page puzzle books a month

Highlights subscription boxes

Highlights also sells three box subscriptions, which cost more than the magazines but go further:

High Five Activity Box (ages 3 to 6, $39 every other month): a little red box with a storybook, a keepsake craft, a brain boosting activity and recipes to make together. Reviews from parents are glowing, and many say the box lasts more than a month.
I Can Read! Book Club ($29 a month): five leveled books a month from the I Can Read! series, with three levels to choose from: Earliest Readers, Emerging Readers and Established Readers. Call to move up a level when your child is ready.
Learning Boxes ($29 a month): curriculum aligned activity kits for Preschool, Kindergarten and First Grade, built around short daily practice.

Our take: the I Can Read! Book Club is the standout. Five real books a month for $29 is about $6 a book, the leveling takes the guesswork out of picking titles, and kids love getting their own mail. The Activity Box is a great gift but pricier for what you get.

I Can Read book club box from Highlights with five leveled readers — I Can Read! Book Club sends 5 leveled books a month

Highlights kindergarten learning subscription box with workbooks — Learning Boxes follow school skills from PreK to first grade

Which Highlights subscription should you pick?

Baby or toddler: Hello, or skip ahead to High Five once they are 2.
Preschool and kindergarten: High Five magazine. Add the Activity Box if you want a craft project every couple of months.
Learning to read: I Can Read! Book Club at the right level.
Ages 6 to 9: Highlights magazine, hands down.
Puzzle lovers 7 and up: Puzzlemania, or brainPLAY if you want something cheaper.
Gift from a grandparent: a one year magazine subscription. It shows up all year and costs less than one toy.

Is Highlights worth it?

Yes. Highlights magazines are some of the best value kids subscriptions out there: ad free, made by people who clearly know kids, and cheap per issue. Your kid gets mail every month, which still feels like magic at 5, and you get 30 minutes of screen free quiet.

The downsides are small but real. Everything auto renews, so put a note in your calendar if you are buying a one year gift. Stacking several subscriptions adds up fast. And first issues can take 4 to 6 weeks to arrive by regular mail, so order a gift early.

Pros

Options for every age from birth to 12
Magazines cost about $4 an issue
Ad free, screen free, built by childhood experts
Free shipping on every subscription
Easy to cancel online

Cons

Everything renews automatically
First issue can take 4 to 6 weeks
US shipping only for the boxes and puzzle clubs
Older kids may outgrow the main magazine around 10 or 11

Looking for more ideas? Browse our subscription boxes for kids and book subscription boxes.

Highlights FAQ

How much is a Highlights magazine subscription?

Highlights, High Five and Hello cost $48 a year for 12 issues before discounts, so $4 an issue. brainPLAY is $24 a year for 6 issues. Shipping is free.

What age is Highlights magazine for?

Highlights magazine is for ages 6 to 12. High Five covers ages 2 to 6 and Hello covers ages 0 to 2.

How do I cancel my Highlights subscription?

Sign in to your account on highlights.com, find the subscription, click Actions and then Cancel. You can also contact Highlights customer service. You may return any shipment and owe nothing.

Does Highlights magazine still have Hidden Pictures?

Yes. Hidden Pictures is still in every issue of Highlights, and brainPLAY and Puzzlemania have even more of them.

Can I send Highlights as a gift?

Yes. At checkout, enter the child’s name and address for shipping and your own address for billing. Since subscriptions auto renew, decide whether you want it to continue after the first year.

Are there Highlights coupon codes?

Highlights runs promotions most of the year, often a heavily discounted first box or first year, shown right on the product page. Check the banner on shop.highlights.com before you pay full price.