Do you remember receiving your first piece of mail as a kid? How about those times impatiently waiting at the pediatrician’s office trying to stay busy? What about breaking into classroom workgroups to read articles and complete brain teasers and puzzles? If your answer is “yes” to at least one of these, you most likely remember Highlights for Children, the magazine.
I recently reminisced with several friends about their memories of reading Highlights magazine. Every one of them has fond memories in some fashion.
“When I was little, I remember seeing someone chewing bubble gum and decided I would like to try some too. We weren’t a family of bubble gum chewers so didn’t have any around the house. One night I grabbed a bunch of dental floss from my mom’s medicine cabinet, wadded it up and threw it in my mouth. I went downstairs and began reading my copy of Highlights magazine at the dining room table. My mom approached me and asked what I was chewing on. I told her gum, but she immediately questioned where I would have gotten any. I proceeded to lie and tell her that they had a sample in Highlights magazine. She called my bluff so fast and made me spit it out. I got caught chewing on dental floss, which sadly, also did not come from my copy of Highlights magazine.“
Highlights magazine was first published in June 1946. Creators Garry Cleveland Myers and Caroline Clark Myers (husband and wife) were both leaders in education. Their focus was primarily on elementary-level students. The magazine has helped teach kids reading and creative thinking skills with a variety of puzzles and stories (fiction and non-fiction). The magazine also includes home economics subjects such as recipes and arts & crafts.
“I remember going to my cousin’s house one day and he had broken out into hives. I overheard my aunt and my grandma discussing how to take care of this. I had remembered reading a story once in Highlights magazine about a pig who had gotten pimples and wanted them to go away. The other pigs started to rub mud on that pig’s face to get rid of his pimples and it appeared to work! I was so excited to run and tell my aunt and my grandma that I knew how they could heal my cousin’s hives. I told them all they needed to do was rub mud on his hives and they would get better. And even though the grown-ups thought it was cute and just laughed, I was still very proud.“
The impact this publication has made on society is phenomenal. Even on their own website they have a compilation of tv shows in which Highlights magazine has made a cameo appearance.
It’s been almost 80 years and Highlights for Children has found its way across multiple platforms and is available around the world. Right now their online store is holding a Black Friday sale on subscriptions and variety puzzle book bundles. Parents can also visit the website to download puzzles to print or even find recipes and arts & crafts for free!
