“The NestFamily video series passed the toughest test in our house—the test of our kids! My three daughters love it. We love to watch a tape as a family just before bedtime. The NestFamily videos are a great tool for family devotionals.” Max Lucado
When our little boys were really little, we hit upon the best animated video Bible and character series that we have ever used (and I have gotten many, many different ones through the years at the library, homeschool fairs, and other places). This series, called NEST videos, is actually a fifteen year old company that does many outstanding products. The two I would like to specifically bring to your attention today, the ones we have used extensively, are the Bible videos and character “cartoon” videos.
The Bible video series is their core program. It contains fifty-six interactive Bible stories including twelve from the Old Testament; twenty-four from the life of Christ; and the remainder of Paul and his missionary journeys. They are animated, colorful, and beautiful.
This series is captivating, so professionally done, and award winning. It has received awards and recognition from the Emmy’ Awards, Parenting Magazine, The Parents’ Choice Foundation, National Educational Media Network, Film Advisory Board, Director’s Choice Award from Early Childhood News, KIDS FIRST, Practical Homeschooling, and the DOVE awards, to name a few.
The second product line, which I whole-heartedly recommend, is the Hero Classics. This set consists of twenty inspiring, educational stories of heroic men and women, with the emphasis on their accomplishments in world history and social sciences. This series helps teach positive character traits, such as honesty, courage, leadership, patriotism, self-control, compassion, and more.
This Animated Hero Classic Series contains twenty historically accurate DVD’s and has also won countless awards. According to Video Librarian Magazine, “This wonderful animated series brings to video not just historical heroes but rol models we need to keep alive in our memories.”
The downside of NEST products? They are pricey. While you can easily run out and get the latest-lack-of-character-building DVD at Wal-mart for five bucks and have two hours of crude, profane viewing, each short (thirty minute) NEST dvd costs about $25 if purchased in a set of twelve or more. We were able to get in on them when they first came out (on VHS) and got some truly exceptional deals on them. However, to purchase the DVD’s, one would either need to save for a while—or take advantage of NEST’s flex payment plan in which you receive the DVD’s now but pay each month (with no interest) via your debit card.
I think the NEST videos are an investment worth making for families who have children ages two to ten. They are ideal family devotion materials, Sunday school supplements, homeschool curricula, or “daily video after naps” items. They are such high quality products that you do not feel like you are watching the latest generic cartoon. Check out their link below—and consider getting them for your kids or grandkids.
Note: The last time I spoke with a representative for NEST, the gentleman told me that if you have the old VHS program, you can get a special rate for the replacement DVD’s. We have been considering taking advantage of this offer and stocking our shelves with the DVD’s for future grandkids. (Plus, Jakie keeps asking if we can get the new DVD’s of these for him before he’s too old!)
LINK: http://www.nestfamily.com/
Our cable package includes Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN) I'm not sure how widely available that is? But it plays the NEST videos (the Bible ones, not the history ones, at least not that I've seen) on Sat. mornings, I think it is. We have our DVR set to record them and watch them whenever we want, so I'm not sure on when it actually comes on, but I'm pretty sure it's one of the shows we record from TBN. They also have a series, that I think is available on DVD as well, called Bugtime Adventures that is a cartoon combination of character building stories about a community of bugs (that apparently lives for thousands of years and travels extensively since the SAME bugs are in all the shows) and then at the same time, there's a Bible story going on. So, for example, the one about Baby Jesus, the bugs live in a hole in the floor of Mary's house and a spark from the fire lands on their town and burns it up, so they are looking for a new home and end up catching a ride on the donkey with Joseph & Mary when they go to Bethlehem. . .hard to describe, but the Bible story parts reminds me of NEST as far as quality, and the character building lessons in the bug village are good too, my 7 yr olds LOVE them.
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