Today, we share news that will assuredly both surprise and deeply sadden our community, and we remind ourselves of the incredible impact we’ve made in the past 12 years.
First, the news. The Tinkergarten Home, Plus, and Pro products will be discontinued beginning on August 29, 2024. Though Highlights for Children values Tinkergarten’s approach to teaching and learning, and plans to offer and distribute the Tinkergarten content in a range of novel ways, the company has made a business decision that the current product model is not sustainable for them to support at this time.
If you know us or our team, you know how passionately we care about our mission and this wonderful work of helping kids learn, grow and thrive through purposeful, outdoor play. Though this marks the end of an incredible 12 years of supporting thousands of teachers, parents and caregivers who have worked in joyful collaboration to bring Tinkergarten to communities, classrooms and their own kids, across all 50 U.S. states—we know that Tinkergarten remains in all of us.
When we first started Tinkergarten, quality, early outdoor learning was pretty hard to find. But today, we see teachers, families and kids learning outside together in communities everywhere. Everyone who has been part of this mission knows what makes Tinkergarten utterly unique, and that is why the work we’ve done together will continue to live on through the teachers, parents and caregivers, and the millions of kids we’ve reached.
Since this announcement, we've been flooded with messages from hundreds of teachers and families who have loved Tinkergarten through the years, and we invite you to share what Tinkergarten has meant to you in this Facebook post, this Instagram post or by email to us at support@tinkergarten.com. If you would like to share your feedback on the decision with the Highlights team, please email eds@highlights.com.
Tinkergarten is in us all, and more than ever, the world needs the benefits of outdoor play and community—so let’s make a promise to keep playing and learning outside, together, with our kids.
Please know, again, how deeply sorry we are to have to share this news with our community.
With tremendous gratitude and love for our shared cause,
Meghan and Brian Fitzgerald
