TOS Crew: Nature Friend Magazine

Nature Friend Magazine is a wonderful addition to a child's reading collection, especially if your child is studying animals in science or if they love going on nature walks. Jacob and Jaden both love animals, so this magazine was a hit in our house. Jaden likes to point out the animals and try to tell us what sound each one makes. With this magazine come pages of full-color illustrations, and one of the magazines even came with a poster that the kids could tear out and hang up if they wanted.

Honestly, I thought that this magazine was just about animals, but I was happily surprised to see a spread about the stars and galaxies....this is going to come handy after Christmas when we start studying astronomy in science. So, the magazines are all about nature and the outdoor world that God has created. Their motto on the front cover is actually, "Helping Families Explore the Wonders of God's Creation."

Not only are there great articles to be read throughout every issue, but there are activities as well, which include crossword puzzles, drawing activities, etc. Inside the front cover of each issue, there is a "Scavenger Hunt" introduction, in which the kids have to look for a few certain things throughout the magazine, as they are reading. For example, in one issue we received, we had to look for a hidden deer track and an acorn. There is also an "Invisibles" page, in which the kids have to look at a picture and find all of the things that are hidden.

If you choose, you can get an optional Study Guide edition of the magazine. The Study Guide insert comes with many more activities, including writing activities and research activities. It's $2 extra per month for the Study Guide. If you are going to subscribe, the Study Guide adds a lot more content to the magazine than what there would be otherwise, in my opinion.

Kids are able to interact with the magazine, as Nature Friend actually accepts questions, photos, poems and drawings from readers to publish in the magazine every month. Any questions that are received are answered in "The Mailbox" section.

You can subscribe to Nature Friend for $36 per year (12 issues). For a 2-year subscription, the price is $68. I do not want to sound negative, because it really is a wonderful magazine; but to be honest, if our family had not been able to review this magazine, we probably would not be able to afford it at that price, and even though it is a wonderful magazine, I'm just not sure that we would want to pay that for the subscription. Without the Study Guide insert, the magazine would have much less content also.

To read more Nature Friend reviews, head on over to the TOS Crew Blog.