Flexible Parenting Reviews

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Wednesday, March 5, 2008

Highlights High Five

I have to admit, that I don't really remember reading Highlights magazine as a kid. It's actually celebrating turning 60 years old. Alright, that's not true. I remember reading it once a year at the doctor's office. However, I always wanted to have a subscription to it. For whatever reason, that never happened. When Parent Bloggers said they were looking for bloggers to review Highlights High Five, I was excited that I would finally be able to read Highlights magazine at home.

You may be wondering why I said Highlights High Five instead of just Highlights. Highlights High Five is a magazine specifically aimed at kids ages 2-6. Since my older son just turned 4.5, it seemed like this would be the perfect fit. It was.

The first thing I liked about the magazine was the presentation. It is the size of a regular magazine, and it is printed on good quality paper. I don't care about that with adult magazines, but I have found it makes a difference with kids magazines. Everything is written neatly and clearly. Maybe that sounds a little strange. Sometimes I finnd kids books and magazines to be overwhelming. There can be too many words, too many bright colors, and too many pictures crammed into one page. That was not the case here. The best way to say it, would be that the pages were neat and tidy. They were clear and easy to follow. Each page was numbered and the number was in a circle with a different color background so it's easy to find. There is also an easy to follow index in the beginning of the magazine.

The second thing I liked about the magazine was that it was interactive. It's actually designed to be an interactive magazine and to also allow independent reading of it as well. I sat down with both of my boys (my 20 month old also liked the magazines) and we would read the short stories in them and the rhymes. They also had a English/Spanish story (with pronunciation key for the Spanish) in each issue which the boys enjoyed as well. Their favorite part was the hidden picture. It was nice because some of the hidden objects were pretty obvious while others were much harder to lpcate. Neither boy could ever find the really challenging objects which I think means that the magazine has appropriately hit its target ages. I think a 6 year old would really enjoy the challenge of the hidden pictures.

There are also crafts and recipes you can do with your kids using items from around your house. I'm always lacking on ideas on that area so this part of the magazine was something I particularly appreciated. There are also cutout games. Every issue has a section where they explain something. My 4 year old particularly liked when they explained how you mail a letter. There is also a cute cartoon strip called "The Adventures of Spot". I think that older kids would particularly like this.

I was really pleased with this magazine. It' s good quality with lots of fun activities. My boys also flipped through them on their own. A one year subscription is just under $30.

Parent Bloggers is having a Blog Blast on Friday March 7, where you can win a one-year subscription to Highlights High Five or to Highlights. Click here to read more information.

posted by Alex Elliot @ 7:55 PM 0 comments

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Name:	Alex Elliot
Home:	MA, United States
About Me:	Professional Mom of two cats, a dog, an ant farm, and oh yeah...two boys: a 4 year old and a 1 year old. Also found in my house is my husband who is known on this blog as The Big Giraffe.
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