Children and photography
All parents want their children to have an interesting and useful hobby, and photography is an excellent choice. There are many benefits of photography for children – it teaches them patience, increases their artistry, and gives them the gift of being able to document their lives.
Introducing children to photography doesn’t have to be a chore – kids and photography go surprisingly well together! But if you’re stumped for photography ideas for kids that are fun and stimulating, you’ve come to the right place. In this blog we will look at the following photography activities for children:
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- Join a children’s photography class
- Work on one technical skill with them
- Develop their photos
- Try instant film photography
- Create a photo journal/ scrapbook
- Make a time-lapse
- Have a photo scavenger hunt
- Edit digital photos using a photo editing app
Join a children’s photography class
If you’re raising a budding photographer why not sign them up for a photography class or club? While it’s great to experiment with a camera at home, a class or club has the added advantage of the teacher’s expertise, and other children for them to bond with over photography. A teacher giving specific photography tips will help your child to understand the technical side of photography as well as the creative side.
Work on one technical skill with them
This one might seem boring in comparison to some of the other photography activities on this list, but you will be surprised at how eager children are to learn about something when they can get hands-on with the learning! Because compositional elements are so important to photography, learning about them will set your children up to be great photographers.
You can choose a different element such as focus, light, perspective, or composition and show them how these elements can shape photography – and of course, let them get proactive with using the camera.
Develop their photos
Not everyone has the luxury of a darkroom and that’s okay, but you will find that many children will be just as excited to see the photos that they’ve taken get developed at a photo shop. Developing digital photos transforms the art of photography into something very tangible, and gives your child a memento of their activity as well as the fruit of their efforts that they can take pride in.
Try instant film photography
Taking pictures on a smartphone or digital camera is fun, but children are enchanted by instant film photography. Something about the instantaneous act of the paper emerging from the camera seconds after snapping is magical to a child – as well as adults!
Introducing your child to instant film photography is a sure way to start a lifelong love affair with photography. The Fujifilm Instant Camera Instax Mini 11 is a great camera for kids. It is easy to use, lightweight and durable, making it a child-friendly camera. Plus, it’s super affordable.
Create a photo journal/ scrapbook
If you have instant film photos, developed your photos, or even printed them out from your printer – make the activity even more artistic by turning these photos into a photo journal or scrapbook! This will be both fun and creative for your children as they can organise the images in a way that matters to them and even get creative with glitter, glue, and other embellishments. This will also be something they will treasure in years to come as they will have lovely photos that they worked hard to arrange, as well as the memory of the activity.
Make a time-lapse
A time-lapse is a great way to show them how photography can be used creatively. Take a photo of something every day and see how it changes over time. This could be taking photos of your child every day for a year and then using the LapseIt app to show them how they have grown. If you are expecting a child, creating a maternity time-lapse with your older children can be a great way to get them excited and help them bond with their new sibling during your pregnancy.
It could even be paired with a science project, photographing a plant every day from planting the seed to full growth.
This can be a really fun photography project for kids as well as teaching them delayed gratification, as they will have to wait a while before they get to see the end product.
Have a photo scavenger hunt
A photo scavenger hunt is a great way to get your children really excited about photography because it turns an activity into a whole event for them. Create a list of items for your child to photograph around your house or the local area, and they will have plenty of fun searching high and low for your chosen subjects. You can go specific with your items, or better yet, abstract, such as ‘something shiny’ which will yield interesting results as children tend to interpret vague clues very imaginatively.
Edit digital photos using a photo editing app
Editing digital photos on a phone or tablet is a modern activity for modern kids! When we say photography, we think of the act of clicking the shutter – but in fact, photography has become so much more than that in our digital age.
One way to make taking photos on a phone more fun is to show your children how editing can take photography in a completely different creative direction. Using an app like Picmonkey stimulates a child’s artistic sensibilities and can entertain them for hours. Your child might just have a penchant for photo-editing, as well as photography!
We hope you enjoyed our tips for getting your kids interested in photography!
When trying out these activities, use SplentoApp for sharing your fun family moments.
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