Children have an inborn sense of wonder and excitement about nature.  They love being outdoors, picking grass, watching animals and birds...most of them even like bugs!  We homeschoolers can capitalize on that interest as we teach our children about the natural world, and Nature Friend magazine is here to help.  With full-color photos and articles about animals, weather, and all things nature, Nature Friend can guide parents through science topics that kids of all ages will love.
 
Each issue offers intriguing articles and first-hand stories, crossword puzzles, trivia questions, and reader-submitted photographs, drawings, and questions.  Each Crew Mate has received the August and September issues of Nature Friend along with their supplement Nature Friend Study Guides.  These guides provide additional word puzzles, research ideas, tips on nature photography, and even writing lessons.  The Study Guides help parents make the most of the educational information in Nature Friend.
 
Nature Friend is unique among children's nature magazines because all the information is presented from a Christian, Biblical perspective.  God's hand in nature is honored throughout the magazine.  The magazine's first issue was published in 1983 by the Brubaker family.  Nature Friend is now published by Kevin and Bethany Shank of Dayton, Virginia.  They describe Nature Friend in these words:

We are a children's magazine the whole family, including the grandparents, can enjoy. We publish twelve issues per year, six of which are gently nudged towards an older age. They are the January, March, May, July, September, and November issues. This is easiest to observe by the two-page art lesson that goes a bit more in-depth than the one-page lesson. While 8-16 may be a nucleus, we publish drawings by 3-4 year olds and quotes/writings from parents and grandparents.

Please check out Nature's Friend for yourself - then come back here and read what the Crew has to say.