Polar Pen Pal vs Wandering Woods Adventure Mail Club

Where they differ

Both are nature, travel and stickers clubs. Past that they pull apart: Polar Pen Pal also covers postcards, while Wandering Woods Adventure Mail Club adds letters and activities.

On price there is effectively nothing in it — $34 for 3 months against $11/mo, which works out within a dollar a month of each other. Price is not the deciding factor here.

Shipping is the one that rules a club out rather than in: Polar Pen Pal ships to Not stated, Wandering Woods Adventure Mail Club to US.

Polar Pen Pal addresses the post to the child by name; Wandering Woods Adventure Mail Club 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

Polar Pen Pal

Postcards and small northern keepsakes mailed by a family living in Arctic Canada, showing everyday Arctic life, plus collectible stickers. Mail is addressed personally to the child. Subscribers also get password-protected online access to videos and Arctic learning resources.

Wandering Woods Adventure Mail Club

A monthly letter of true travel stories from a real traveling family, with photographs, hand-drawn illustrations, stickers, activities and small mementos. Contents vary month to month. Mailed on the 1st; signup closes on the 15th of the prior 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.