Review: Nature Friend Magazine

Do your kids enjoy magazines?  If they enjoy the nature-oriented, outdoorsy magazines, you might want to take a look at Nature Friend, the nature magazine that seeks to help "families explore the wonders of God's creation."

Some of the monthly features that you can expect from Nature Friend are:

• Beautiful, full-color photographs
• "You Can Draw" art lessons
• Reader-submitted poems, drawings, and photos
• A science-themed "learning by doing" feature
• "The Mail Box," where reader questions are answered
• "The Invisibles" hidden picture puzzle
  

The optional study guide includes features such as:

• Puzzles:  crosswords, acrostics, fill-in-the blanks
• A "For You to Research" section
• "A Study in Nature" writing lessons
• "The Photo Critique," which offers photography tips
• More gorgeous photos of God's creation

Now, I'll be honest:  my kids don't enjoy magazines (well, other than the Lego catalog, but I don't think that counts), so, for us, the subscription prices of $36 a year for twelve issues seemed a bit pricey, especially since I'd want the optional study guide for an additional $2 per issue.  However, I'll tell you what I really liked about that magazine -- the things that would be my favorite features, if my kids liked magazines.

I loved the "You Can Draw" feature.  It gives tips on drawing everything from sunflowers to fawns to black bears.  Readers can send in their drawings to be featured in future issues.  I really loved that the reader-submitted drawings are printed in thumbnail size, so that lots of readers' drawings get featured because I know that's a huge thrill for kids.

I thought "The Mailbox" was great because readers send in their questions and they're actually answered right there on the page.  It's much more than a "letters to the editor" page; it's more like "interaction with the editor" page.

The photographs are incredible and I appreciate the fact that the magazine is written from a creationist perspective, so that there's not all that "millions of years old" stuff that is typical of most science and nature magazines.  By the same token, those who might typically shy away from a "Christian" magazine will appreciate the fact that Nature Friend is not written as an evangelical magazine, but rather as simply accepting creation as fact, rather than evolution.

Be sure to visit Nature Friend's website to take a look at their sample issues, order back issues, or browse around their special section for homeschoolers.  If you decide to subscribe, from now until November 30 you can use the code BLOG93 for $3 off your first subscription.

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