Helping Children Explore the Wonders of God’s Creation
Nature Friend magazine is a children’s magazine the whole family, including the grandparents, can enjoy. It is published twelve issues per year, six of which are gently nudged towards the older family members. Readers are encouraged to participate in the magazine by submitting art, photographs, stories, puzzles and poems. Besides the various submissions used each month, they have an annual readers’ issue that is compiled from reader’s submissions, cover-to-cover.
Nature Friend magazine, begun in 1983, was first published by the Stanley Brubaker family of Goshen, Indiana. It was born out of Mr. Brubaker’s desire to encourage children to believe in God as their Creator and to seek out, recognize, and appreciate His handiwork. Their policy has been to simply stand on the truth of God’s Word and to present it as enjoyable fact while learning about the creatures God has created. Nature Friend recognizes that God has planned for man to be wise stewards over His creation, and that He alone is to be worshiped, not His creation.
I have looked at Nature Friend magazine for years. I even have some old copies from “way back when”. I always liked the idea of having a nature magazine that was creation based. Munchkin loves nature magazines, but I didn’t always care for the evolutionary content in them. When we learned that we would get to review 2 issues of Nature Friend with the crew, we were very excited.
When the first issue arrived, I didn’t even get a chance to look at it before Munchkin carried it away to thumb through it. I did finally get to look at it after she went to bed. I was captivated by the beautiful pictures. Each issue contained great articles and activities. One of Munchkin’s favorites was the You Can Draw feature. She loved that she could submit her drawing to possibly be published in the magazine.
Here is her You Can Draw… a Sunflower.
Nature Friend has recently added a new study guide section to their magazine.
Study Guides enhance your experience with Nature Friend magazine. They accompany each issue, and besides exercises to reinforce what was learned, there are several bonus features. “A Study in Nature; a Lesson in Writing” teaches creative writing. “The Photo Critique” teaches nature photography tips, and is an opportunity to submit your nature photos for possible publication.
The study guide allows the students/readers to dive deeper into the topics covered in the magazine. There are more activities and more beautiful photos.
Nature’s Friend Magazine retails for $36.00 per year. You can add the study guide for an additional $24.00 per year. Want to check out the magazine and study guide to see if they’re right for you? You can see full pdf samples of the magazine and study guide here.
I received 2 copies of Nature’s Friend magazine for the purpose of this review. No other compensation was received. All opinions are my own.
