Peyton Anderson, a 10-year-old from Wisconsin, is a champion in and out of the water. When she’s not training for elite swimming competitions, she’s dedicating her time to helping homeless children in Wisconsin and California. 

As soon as young adults step foot on a college campus, they’re flooded with credit card offers. Many sign up for them and immediately max them out. Others might sign up for one and barely use it — avoiding spending money they don’t have. 

Our award-winning magazines for kids deliver a monthly dose of encouragement, keeping kids of every age inspired and challenged. Help them learn and grow with kids magazines from Highlights!

In our "How Do We Celebrate" series, we share the unique and special traditions of all families, particularly with regards to spirituality and religion, but also other traditions that connect to meaning.

While homework in elementary school is usually minimal, your child has many years of studying ahead of them. Teaching study skills to kids now – in age-appropriate ways – can pay dividends later as they progress through middle and high school.

Books are a perfect way to broaden your baby’s horizon and vocabulary.

It is a universal truth: Mornings are hard. When the ticking clock meets with tired people, lost shoes, smelly lunch boxes and unsigned reading logs, it often makes for a not-so-pleasant goodbye, which makes the rest of the day feel a little off. 

Hidden Pictures puzzles have been a beloved feature of Highlights for Children since launching in 1946. Today, there are over 30 varieties of Hidden Pictures puzzles, all created to challenge and delight from infancy through adulthood.

Between the sweet baby smell and the sound of your little one cooing with delight, there is so much to be excited about in this new chapter — and, of course, plenty of unsolicited advice.

For many parents, a child talking back or being rude is met with immediate anger or sternness—perhaps an instinctual response from their own upbringing or beliefs about respecting our elders.

A great outdoor space for a baby or toddler doesn’t have to be huge or cost a fortune. All you need is a safe, obstruction-free patio, porch or grassy patch with a shady area nearby where your cutie can test new skills, investigate, play and experiment.

Language development experts call them “environmental sounds.” These funny noises include animal sounds, sounds that represent motion (like the “vroom!” of a car or the “wheee” you might make while a ball is rolling) and household sounds, such as the ring of a doorbell.

Reading is a crucial skill that opens up a world of learning. But not everybody reads: The Literacy Project estimates that only 35% of all public school fourth graders in the United States are proficient readers.

Kate Swenson is the owner of the blog, "Finding Cooper's Voice." In this very personal essay, Kate shares the advice that she wants every parent of a special needs child to know. 

In this Dear Highlights podcast, Christine French Cully, Highlights Editor-in-Chief, and Hillary Bates, Director of Purpose and Impact, talk with Dr.

The word on the street for many parents of school-aged kids is that kindergarten is the new first grade. It’s no secret that kindergarten today is much more academically rigorous than kindergarten used to be, with less play and longer hours.

Playing with a pal is not just board games, backyard soccer, slime, bikes and lemonade stands. It’s actually shoring up your child’s mental health, banking trust and developing security that can be drawn on for years to come.

Would you like your future citizens of the world to serve their community, do good deeds and feel compassion for others? Here are 21 community service ideas to help kids learn how to give back. Give these child-tested philanthropic activities a try. 

Christine French Cully, Highlights Editor-in-Chief, and Hillary Bates, Director of Purpose and Impact, sit down with Dr. Emily Oster, an economist at Brown University, to discuss how to understand data to improve decision making for parents.  

I was born and raised in Mexico City and ironically, as soon as I left my country 17 years ago, I started paying more attention to how I celebrate my Mexican traditions, like Day of The Dead, and magically they got a whole new and powerful meaning.  

Got a big-personality child who thinks he knows more than anyone else in the family? Learn what to do from our panel of experts: 

Kids love Halloween! Scary stuff can be so fun . . . or it can ruin bedtime.

Each year, thousands of kids write to Highlights magazine to share their creativity, make suggestions for a new feature or puzzle or seek guidance on a problem they are experiencing.

As children grow, it’s normal for them to experience ups and downs day-to-day, depending on what’s happening at school and with friends and family.

Gratitude is the appreciation of good things in our lives and in the world, accompanied by a sense of thankfulness and a desire to express it. Nurturing gratitude helps children develop empathy, resilience, and a positive outlook—skills that benefit them throughout life.

The internet was made for posts about cats and kids. But it’s also a massive network storing information about all of us, including kids. How should we think about kids’ privacy online?

Raising a reader in an increasingly screen-filled world can seem like an impossible and, sometimes, unnecessary or obsolete pursuit. But don’t give up: Reading will always be a timeless pleasure and the foundation of all learning. 

Kids love to imagine what could be – like traveling to mystical lands or exploring the furthest reaches of our universe. 

When my son Mickey was in second or third grade, a favorite book of his (and mine) was Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes, a cookbook with instructions for making Lickable Wallpaper, Stink Bugs’ Eggs and Peppermint Pencil Erasers.

It’s no surprise preschool kids develop an intense interest in a particular type of play (dress-up), a concept (knock-knock jokes) or an object (insert your kid’s fixation here).

Let’s be honest: Parenting isn’t all sweet birth announcements and adorable family photos. Being a parent means being there for those messy moments in between — like midnight bed wetting, toddler meltdowns and pre-teen attitudes. 

Looking for some fun this April Fools’ Day? If you have a few jokesters in your house, they’ll love planning each of these April Fools’ pranks and laughing all day long. These April Fools’ jokes are harmless, hilarious and perfect for the whole family!

Even before they invent spelling based on sounds, preschoolers are starting to grasp rules about how letters go together to form words.

As November approaches and election conversations surround us, conversations about politics can be intense. Children are not immune.

From the time they’re born, babies are driven by an overwhelming (and, OK, self-centered) desire to eat, cry, coo, giggle, roll over, stare (at you) and swipe at anything that looks remotely appealing.

It’s a me-first existence—but one that will change.

Every parent has experienced it. The anticipation of catching up with your child after a long week, the mental planning of questions to keep dialogue going. You begin the conversation with an easy ask, hoping to grease the wheels for a long discussion: “How was school today?” 

Holidays are times of joyful gatherings and fun traditions for families all over the world. From special meals to funny characters to celebrating the values that unite us, each culture brings its own flair to the festivities — during the winter holidays and throughout the year.

Finding the perfect gifts for kids can be tough. What they like today, they might ignore tomorrow. Unfortunately, this means holiday and birthday tokens often end up unused, gathering dust in a closet or toy bin.

Does your kid seem to want everything delivered on a silver platter? Learn how to identify entitled behavior from our panel of experts: 

When you volunteer as a family, you give kids an up close and personal way to observe life’s complexities and to see how the world looks from another perspective. Here's how to get involved and enjoy volunteering together.

Handwriting is so much more than just being about to write a sentence or your name. Here are 7 reasons why handwriting is key to academic and personal success.

Don’t be afraid to let your kids get a little wild with rough-and-tumble play. A little horseplay helps them grow!

For years, the National Education Association, the National PTA, and other experts have been actively campaigning for schools to take a more moderate approach to homework

Whether you have an hour or a day to devote to getting outside, fresh air and outdoor adventures can lift your whole family’s mood. Entice your kids with fun outdoor activities tied to other interests and they’ll soon be reaping the rewards of muscle-building, stress-relieving, fresh-air fun.

In this episode of the "Dear Highlights" podcast, Christine French Cully, Editor-in-Chief, and Hillary Bates, Director of Purpose and Impact, are joined by Highlights CEO Kent Johnson.

One of the things our early childhood learning team hears most when we speak with preschool educators is that kindergarten readiness is far more than foundational literacy and numeracy skills, as critical as they are.

Parents Trent and Carly Shepherd join Christine French Cully, Highlights’ Editor-in-Chief, and Hillary Bates, Director of Purpose and Impact, on the Dear Highlights podcast to share more about a major lifestyle chang

The magic of the holidays is here! Or it will be as soon as you can somehow magically summon up ideas for yet. another. list. of gifts for kids.

To celebrate Black History Month, we dove into our Highlights archives. From space to sports, these original stories and activities from Highlights magazines will inspire you to learn more about Black history all year long. 

When your sassy child hollers, “Quit it, Mom!” (or worse), your first instinct may be to shut that behavior down immediately. After all, you want your child to develop good manners and to demonstrate respect to those around them. 

Caring for children is a busy job and we could all use little rest and renewal with some stress-relief activities. Even kids could use a little wind-down time every now and again. But downshifting doesn’t mean that enjoying family and making memories together have to stop. 

Last May when we learned that 21 children and teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde were killed in a school shooting and another 17 wounded, we were thrust into a whirling vortex of emotions: disbelief, horror, grief, fear, white-hot anger, and anguish.

Go ahead. Pump up the volume. We’ve found tunes for all seasons and reasons.

From homework to open houses and everything in between, keeping up with your child’s school year can often feel like a full-time job. 

Here’s proof that bathing isn’t just for scrub-a-dub-dubbing. Check out the following activities. (Hint: They have nothing to do with getting your child clean!)

Self-sufficient children tend to have greater self-esteem, are better able to manage frustration and are less dependent on others, experts say. Check out the following entry-level self-care skills for preschool and grade-school youngsters that can set your child on a self-care path today!

The air is full of colorless gas. So what makes a sunny sky so blue?

On a beautiful summer day, puffy white clouds drift in a sky that’s very blue. It looks like an ocean you could dive into.