Games With Gramma vs Highlights Magazine

Where they differ

Both are activities clubs. Past that they pull apart: Games With Gramma also covers letters, while Highlights Magazine adds books & magazines.

Highlights Magazine is the cheaper of the two — $47.50/year against $6/mo, roughly 34% less on a monthly basis. Whether that gap means anything depends on what turns up: the dearer club is not automatically sending more, and on a gift the up-front total matters more than the monthly figure.

The age ranges differ too: Games With Gramma is pitched at ages 4–10, Highlights Magazine at ages 6–12. Match the reading level rather than the birthday — a child who cannot yet read the letter alone needs an adult in the loop either way.

Shipping is the one that rules a club out rather than in: Games With Gramma ships to Worldwide, Highlights Magazine to US.

Games With Gramma addresses the post to the child by name; Highlights Magazine does not. That sounds minor and it is the detail people mention most often — the envelope being visibly theirs is most of the appeal for a younger child.

What each one sends

Games With Gramma

A monthly envelope of handmade puzzle and game material from Gramma Kat Academy, who makes print and digital learning activities for children. It is built around gamified practice rather than a continuing story. Ships from the US to more than 190 countries.

Highlights Magazine

A monthly print magazine for school-age children with stories, puzzles, hidden pictures, craft ideas and non-fiction features. It is a magazine rather than a letter club — no personalization and nothing to write back to — but it is the cheapest reliable way to get something in the mail for a child every month.

Which one to pick

We are not going to pretend there is a winner here — they are close enough to be on the same shortlist, which is why this page exists. What we would say is that the choice usually turns on the household rather than the club: how much adult time there is, whether the child reads independently yet, and whether you want post that asks something of them or post that simply arrives.

Read the full listings before deciding, and follow through to each club's own site — prices, terms and gift options are theirs to change and ours only to record.