📚 Reading apps and reading coaches · 🎮 Learning games and sites
Highlights Kids
By Highlights for Children, Inc.. Visit Highlights Kids
Desk research from the maker's own pages. Not yet tried by us. Checked 2026-10-24.
The free kids' website of the Highlights magazine company. Children browse jokes, crafts, simple games, polls and 'would you rather' questions, and can send in drawings or answers that may appear in the magazine. Highlights also offers a few older free puzzle apps, such as Hidden Pictures Puzzle Town. The paid products are its print magazines, book clubs and activity boxes for ages 0-12, which the site promotes.
Our take: A safe, free corner of the web for younger readers; don't expect a learning program.
Checked in a browser
A browser check on 2026-10-25: what loads, the ads and trackers we saw, and what a child meets first. Not a hands-on test.
| Child safety: 4 out of 5 | No ads seen; children are invited to send in drawings and answer polls and surveys, and the footer offers app downloads and a parents' shop. |
|---|---|
| Data: 3 out of 5 | No ad networks, but Google Analytics and the AB Tasty testing service loaded, and a banner says third-party tools process personal data with a "Do Not Sell or Share" opt-out. |
| Ease: 4 out of 5 | Big, colorful tiles (Jokes, Crafts, a Tongue Twister play button) are easy to tap, though a privacy banner covered the bottom. |
| Cost honesty: 4 out of 5 | Free; shop links for magazines and book clubs sit in a "For Parents" footer. |
What we found
- The first visit contacted 10 third-party hosts on 7 sites and set 9 cookies.
- Google Analytics (including its stats.g.doubleclick.net endpoint) and AB Tasty loaded; no ad frames were found.
- A "We value your privacy" banner says the site or third-party tools "process personal data" and offers a "Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information" link.
- Prompts like "Draw a Cool Bug! ... We may use it in a puzzle in Highlights magazine" and monthly magazine surveys invite children to submit things.
From the test: A bright, ad-free kids' site that invites children to send in drawings and answers; it loads analytics and A/B-testing scripts on the first visit.
| Ages it suits | about 6-12 |
|---|---|
| What its terms say about age | Terms say HighlightsKids.com is for children's use, while Highlights' other sites are for adults or need a parent; you must be 18 to buy anything. (terms) |
| Price | Free. Website free (Oct 2026); magazine subscriptions are sold separately. |
| Works on | Web, iPhone and iPad, Android |
| Account | No account needed |
| Ads | Yes |
| In-app purchases | None |
| The AI in it | No AI. |
What's good
- Free, gentle content from a trusted magazine brand
- Kids can share drawings and ideas safely
- No account needed
Watch for
- Promotes Highlights' paid magazines and apps (marked 'Advertisement')
- Apps not updated since about 2021
- Light learning; mostly fun extras
Data and privacy
Highlights says kids can submit comments and survey answers, and it limits these to a first name, age and state. Its company-wide privacy policy describes advertising cookies, data from brokers and marketing uses for adult shoppers. Read the privacy policy.
Does it work?
The maker's own claims only; we found no independent study.
In the Big Index
- On the list Top 50 free game sites for kids (2026)
- On the list 20 best free learning game sites for kids
- Highlights Kids
Alternatives to Highlights Kids
Desk researchFree, with paid extrasNo ads
99math
99math (Estonia) · ages about 5-14 (grades K-8)
A low-effort, free way for teachers to make fact practice lively; parents of kids who dislike timed competition may want a calmer tool.
Desk researchFree, with paid extras
ABCya
ABCya.com LLC (a division of IXL Learning) · ages about 4-12 (pre-K to grade 6+)
Handy for quick grade-level practice in class or at home; skip if you want an ad-free experience without paying.
Desk researchPaidNo ads
Adventure Academy
Age of Learning, Inc. · ages grades 3-8 (about 8-13)
Good for kids who love online games and need a nudge toward school subjects; families wanting no social contact should set chat to off or choose a solo app.
Desk researchFree, with paid extras
Arcademics
Arcademics · ages about 6-14 (grades 1-8)
Fine for quick fact-fluency races at school or home; families who want no ad tracking or who have a child anxious about speed should skip it.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Be Internet Awesome: Interland
Google · ages about 7-12
A good free starting point for online safety with kids 7-12, best paired with family talks since the game alone did not change behavior in testing.
Desk researchFreeNo ads
Blob Opera
David Li with Google Arts & Culture · ages about 4 and up
A delightful five-minute music toy for any age; not a music course.
Where these facts come from
- https://www.highlightskids.com/
- https://shop.highlights.com/terms-of-use
- https://shop.highlights.com/privacy-policy
Prices, terms and features change. Nobody paid to be listed, nothing here is an affiliate link, and Peabody never rates itself. Where we and the maker disagree, the maker's own pages are the ones to trust.