Alphabet Hunt

To help your children learn to use photography in novel ways, have them capture letters of the alphabet in the world around them. (They should get close enough to have the letters nearly fill the viewfinder.) While some of the letters may be found on signs and labels, letter forms can also be found elsewhere—a tree branch might be a "Y," a splash of water might look like a "K," and so on. For variation, the hunt could involve different colors, shapes, or textures.

Discovery Walk

Take a walk through your neighborhood and zoom in on objects, plants, architecture, or other features that are distinctive or unusual in some way. Allow your children the freedom to capture what they see as worthy of a photo. Another possibility is to plan a mystery photo contest in which the children record an interesting detail of a familiar object or use an unusual angle. Family members then can guess where the photo was shot. A variation of the discovery walk is a photo scavenger hunt based on a list prepared by an adult in advance.

Getting Creative

Help your children find creative applications for their photos. You might start with a neighborhood or friends “daisy chain.” Have people stand for the camera with their hands held out at their sides. Frame them so their hands are right on the edge of the viewfinder. After taking photos of many different individuals, the children can then paste the photos together by matching up their hands to make it look like they are all holding hands. You might also encourage your children to take a series of pictures that tell a story or to create unique greeting cards and stationery with their images.

Source: Our thanks to Gary Wahl, assistant professor of art, for his help with this edition's activities.

Getting Started

Web Sites

The first piece of advice is to find an inexpensive kid-friendly digital camera and let your children experiment with taking photos on their own and then manipulating and printing them on a home computer. Photography must be hands-on! Here are some additional resources on how to help kids become adept at photography and to build it into other academic or playtime activities.

HP Digital Photography
http://www.hp.com/united-states/consumer/digital_photography/take_better_photos/tips/kids-getting-started.html
Advice on selecting a camera for kids, getting them started, and encouraging creativity.

Getting Your Kids to Click with Photography
http://www.pbs.org/parents/experts/archive/2008/09/getting-your-kids-to-click-wit.html
Helpful tips for parents on how to let children express themselves through photos.

Adobe Digital Kids Club
http://www.adobe.com/education/digkids/lessons/
Lesson ideas for using photography creatively in the classroom and developing computer skills at the same time.

PC World
http://www.pcworld.com/article/120043/digital_focus_photo_projects_for_kids.html 
Projects for kids that keep photography fresh and entertaining.

Books

Jenni Bidner, The Kids’ Guide to Digital Photography
Wendy Ewald, I Wanna Take Me a Picture: Teaching Photography and Writing to Children
Thom Gaines, Digital Photo Madness!: 50 Wacky Things to Do with Your Digital Camera
Neil Johnson, National Geographic Photography Guide for Kids