Having had the opportunity to take part in the Highlights Magazine’s “State of the Kid” press conference yesterday, I was inspired to take our normal, everyday magazine reading a step further.
Maddy has subscribed to High Five for the past year or so, and Owen has loved reading My Big Back Yard, since his third birthday.
But what I realized on my drive back to the ‘burbs after my brief but exciting excursion in DC was that I never really talked with them about the differences–structural or content-wise–between their magazines and the books that they read.
I know you don’t always have to over-analyze or go into great detail explaining things like this in order for kiddos to enjoy them, but I thought if I made the differences a “hunt” it could be fun. And mentioning the terms that Maddy would soon be hearing in Kindergarten might help to prepare her for those lessons.
So I made it into a game, and we tried it out today while we enjoyed the cool and sunny afternoon:
Magazine Hunters:
After Maddy, Owen, and Cora played outside for a bit, I asked them if anyone was interested in playing detective for a while and hunting through the new magazines I received at my meeting.
They were up for it (phew!), so when they met me at the table, I said, I have a new magazine for you all today, and here they are. Maddy, yours is ‘Highlights,’ Owen, yours is ‘High Five,’ and Cora, yours is ‘Puzzle Buzz.’
I was lucky enough to get these cool magazines yesterday, and now I’m sharing them with you. Take a few minutes and check them out!
Owen points to something funny in his magazine.Very casually, I asked some questions as they flipped through:
- What’s the difference between magazines and the books we read?
- What do you notice about how the magazine looks? feels?
- What is new to you? What have you seen before?
- What do you like about a magazine? dislike?
Then I said, Now I asked if you were up for being detectives today, so we’re going to use these cards (I showed them the pile of cards) to tell us what to search for. Everything we need to find is inside these magazines.
(Here are the Magazine Hunt Cards to download.)
Some of the hunt cards. . .
I flipped the first card and read, Stick a note on the story you want to read most.”
I said, Here are the sticky notes. Flip back through your magazine, and stick one of these little blue notes on the story that you want to read first. When we’re done playing the game, we can go back and read that one first.
So we went about halfway through the deck, searching for photos, authors, titles, recipes, comics, drawings, table of contents, and things that were funny or interesting.
It was way too much for Cora, but Maddy and Owen really loved it. They both, though, pretty much refused to move on until I read through the stories they found most interesting, and the reading took a while.
We’ll do this activity again and again–with new magazines and older ones–since it will give them new “eyes” with which they can read and enjoy them.
Christine French Clark, Editor-in-Chief of Highlights,explaining, among other things, how the company really listens to children.
They answer every piece of mail they recieve! (How awesome!?)
Cheers, and happy reading during this incredibly exciting journey!
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colors in a jar
I like the hidden pictures in highlightes
I always loved the hidden pictures in Highlights magazine!
The thing I think I remember most from when I read highlights as a kid was Goofus and Gallant. Funny stuff.
Quinn really enjoys looking through copies at doctors office and looking for cute animals.
Also, I think you might be the best mom ever.
My kids fell in love with Highlights recently while in the local ER waiting room (while I got stitches). They remember the event fondly – even though I don't!
I love the short fiction stories.
I keep thinking of getting Highlights 5. I looked at it in the library once, and my favorite part was season related activities – something that I could do with my daughter.
The hidden pictures in Highlights are what I remember from when I was a child. I went to check out High Five and I like that it has hidden pictures too. I also like High Five's activities – teaches how to follow directions. Both of these magazines are just awesome for kids.
i loved reading highlights at the dentist's office growing up (love goofus and gallant and the hidden pictures). My mom was so excited to learn about High Five and got my girls a subscription for 1 year which just ran out!
in high five we love – the stories, hidden pictures, and all the great ideas for playing (art, games, cooking).
great giveaway!!!
What a great idea! Our son loves High 5, and goes right to the hidden pictures. I think that's really funny, because when I was in elementary school, I'd race to the Highlights shelf in the school library to find the hidden pictures too.
I love that Highlights is a magazine just for kids. I also love that it makes them aspire to be writers by featuring some of their writing.
Asking what we don't love about High Five might have a shorter list! We LOVE "That's Silly", the recipes, the craft idea, and "Let's Build It". It's just a great magazing all the way around!
Highlights is the best! I've always loved Goofus and Gallant. I can still remember from 30 odd years ago reading an illustrated story in Highlights about kids and grownups on Golpen Street who got together and cleaned up the neighborhood. When someone worked on the street sign, they discovered the "p" was crooked and they really lived on "Golden Street"! Magical stuff for a kid.
I enjoyed reading Highlights as a child and I love sharing it with my own children. My son loves getting the mail, especially when it includes something just for him. We love the hidden pictures, but our favorite in High Five is the That's Silly page. We are looking forward to "upgrading" to Highlights in the next couple of months.
my daughter loves highlights! she's been getting it since she was three–she's six now! she reads from it every night before bed! my favorite part is definitely timbertoes and, i have to admit it, goofus and gallant!
I loved Highlights as a child and my daughter loves High 5.We love doing the craft and reading the stories.
I used to love the true stories in Highlights magazine when I was growing up and the neat craft ideas!
heatherlbrandt (at) verizon (dot) net
We love Highlights and High Five in our house. I also have vivid memories of looking forward to reading them in the doctor's or dentist's office as a child…and hoping that someone hadn't written or colored all over it already!
I think the best thing about these magazines is that I don't just hand it over and tell them to "get to work" while I find something else to do…we enjoy time together reading, giggling, and doing the activities. And between Highlights and High Five, there is something for Carmella, Catherine and John all to enjoy!
I love your game! The event was so nice and reading your impressions was awesome. It was great meeting you at the event, also!
I grew up reading highlights and have only recently learned about High Five. The magazine has so much to offer in such a small space. I love the different types of stories and the illustrations are great for little ones. I would LOVE to have this in our home.
I always was so excited to read the Highlights in my dentist's office waiting room when I was a kid– forget the fish tank, and bring on the magazines!
My son was getting Highlights for a year in first grade I think (3 years ago now), and my 3 year old likes to go through his old stash. We enjoy reading the short stories in each issue.
Thanks for the giveaway!
My favorite part about Highlights is that the stories interest my son. I also like the variety of activities/stories.
Georgia subscribed to High Five last year, and she always liked the recipes they had. The thing I like is that you can keep them and read them over and over–they really don't have to be tied to a time.
my kids favorite highlight hidden picture playground, because there have stickers. i like high five too because there have hidden picture, game, cooking or craft.
Gracen loves the children's art work that is published, Samantha enjoys the hidden pictures, and I remember liking "Goofus and Gallant" when I was a kiddo.
Keeping my fingers (and toes)crossed!
We adore High Five and have been subscribers for a year. It is great to get mail that the kids look forward to and reinforces literacy in a format that is perfect for our almost 6 year old. We keep ours and the kids are always going back to old issues!
What a great giveaway! I teach preschool, so I just did the High Five promotion in my classroom (and I got a few orders)! I love that Highlights has not changed much from when I was a kid! It was such a favorite of mine, both at home and in the doctor's office 🙂
I love the hidden pictures!!!
first, i love your idea, so want to use that with the kids, they will love the interactive approach. Loving Highlights myself I am glad my kids like them too, it always inspires my dd to write stories and illustrate them.
we like the pull out activities at the end of High Five! DS loves the games or stories.
my son loves those 'finds these things hidden in the picture'…
I'd love to win b/c a have a new kindergartener too 🙂
xo
Nicole
BananaBlueberry.com
I love the hidden pictures in Highlights. This would be great for my son~ Thanks, [email protected]
I loved reading the magazines at the dentist as a kid too, although don't remember too many details. I've been meaning to check these out for my reluctant readers. I liked the short stories the most.
Thanks.
i always like goofus and gallant. do they even do that any more? i thought it was so hilarious when i was growing up…
melanie(dot)myatt(at)gmail(dot)com
Great playful ways to read magazines. I liked Goofus and Gallant as a kid, but my son's all about the hidden pictures!
I loved the Timbertoes.
I just discovered your blog today, lots of wonderful things to look at. We love the hidden pictures and I love that my newly 7 year old daughter can read High Five to my 3.5 year old and it is short and entertaining enough that he enjoys it as much as she does!
I used a lot of Highlights articles in my 5th grade classroom to teach expository text.
My kids love the hidden pictures!
Melissa
meltay at comcast.net
http://imaginationsoup.net
The thing I like best about "Highlights Magazine" is how excited my kids get when they come in the mail. New stories, new activities, new pictures. They love it!
When I was a kid, I liked Guffus and Gallant the best. I would love to get my son addicted to Highlights.
What a great giveaway! My favorite thing about this would be that our son would have a magazine of his own to read. He sees his dad and I reading magazines and newspapers all the time and would love to have something of his very own to enjoy.
I had never heard of it before seeing your post (first time mom here who grew up in another country) but it seems great. I never thought that there were magazines for kids so young.
My daughter is almost 2 and I think she might enjoy the stories with cute animals that seems (from the link you sent) to populate the High Five magazine. She is always attracted by many activities & stories for older kids and so this would be a chance for her to get exposed to many things.
Winning this prize would be wonderful as it would give us a great chance to try it out.
I received Highlights for most of my childhood! I loved that magazine! I think my favorite part was the hidden pictures, or maybe the riddle with the little pictures instead of some of the words.
I have been thinking about getting a subscription to High Five for Gracie, so this would be great!