How to see the world through a special lens

Photography teaches young kids many valuable skills from a young age - colour theories, the impact of lighting, composition but most importantly, it helps young children to appreciate the objects and sceneries around them. Teaching your kids to see the world through a camera lens encourage them to see the world around them differently and to capture those precious moments from a young age.

Start by purchasing a child proof durable camera and when your children are a bit older and more responsible, you can proceed to purchase an inexpensive point and shoot camera. We’ve come up with five fun kids photography projects to get them on their way.

1. Appreciating Nature
   Out in nature, under natural light is a great starting point for young photographers. Nature provides an abundance of inspirational ideas for kids. There are endless trees, birds, flowers and wildlife to photograph out in National Parks. Give your kids a different subject to photograph each time to help them focus. One week it could be birds, the following week it could be trees.

2. Make common everyday thing exciting again
   This is a fun project to challenge your kids to see the extraordinary in the ordinary things that they come across everyday. Items as simple as a toothbrush inside a coffee mug could provide an interesting subject under different composition and lighting. The next time you go to the local parks with your kids, give them a list of subject to photograph - ‘an elderly couple strolling in the park holding hands’ or ‘family playing with their dog’.

3. Make a day Trip Journal
   Spice up the traditional scrapbook idea by incorporating your kids’ photographs into them. Plan special day trips with the family to special events that are happening around your local area - food festival, marathon or school play and have your kids document the events with their camera. Take them on outings to places they’ve never been to before such as circus, which will make an exciting subject for your kids to capture on camera.

4. Learning about Alphabets, Numbers and Colours
   If you’ve been having problems getting your kids to learn the alphabets, numbers and colours, this is a project for you! Create a scavenger hunt list for your kids and challenge them to find as many items as possible that begin with a certain alphabet, number or colour. For example, one of their task could be to photograph as many items around the house that starts with the letter ‘M’ and are in the colour ‘blue’. This is a fun way for kids to learn without feeling like they’re at school.

5. Show and Tell
   This project can be a bit open-ended, depending on your kids’ area of interest. The idea is for them to pick subjects that interest them and do a show and tell afterwards. Encourage your kids to be creative and surprise you with their findings. If they’re stuck for ideas, take them to the local art centres (arts-and-crafts/art/art-centres/) and art galleries for some inspirations.

Remember there is no right and wrong. Just let your kids be creative and get them happy snapping photos of things that interests them. Already on the look out for ideas on your next kids activities project? Take a browse through our ActiveActivities directory for more ideas.