top of page

Kiddo-graphers’corner

BY LALIE ODAL

ANALOG CAMERA.jpg

For photographers and photography enthusiasts with children, how does one introduce the hobby of capturing memories using cameras?

Have you ever wondered how the world looks like from a child's perspective?

_Marco in Action 1.jpg
Window.jpg

Through the eyes of a child, anything and everything is possible. All kids daydream and make-believe 24/7. They think of a thousand and one ideas each day, they wander about the world around them, and are easily amazed at discovering how the world works. Kids are naturally curious and creative, and so feeding their imagination with activities that will engage them is a key element in their creative growth.

During this time of the pandemic, most kids can't go out and are coping in different ways. Their parents are constantly looking for ways to fight their kids' boredom and cabin fever. A tip from various online sources says that a good walk outdoors, if possible, is a great way to have a break and fight cabin fever.

Hitting two goals with one photo hunt challenge

My son is a highly active boy. He loves discovering things and going for walks so I needed to put his energy into something productive. With the chance to write an article for this corner, I felt like I was able to hit 2 birds with 1 stone when I created a simple photo hunt challenge.

The weather was good, so we were able to go out. The instructions are straightforward: be creative and take pictures of the items from the list using his camera phone, in any way or angle he wants to do it.

I initially had 8 items written, and he went through the list fairly quickly. So, noticing that he was in the momentum and excited to look for more, I improvised and added more to the list items that can be found inside the house.

Monday_outside.jpg
Flower.jpg

The photo hunt challenge became a great bonding experience. We talked about the things on the list, his interpretations, and why he chose those certain angles. At the end of the day, my son and I had loads of fun!

An Animal.jpg
Number.jpg
Soil.jpg
Favorite Book.jpg

Later, I sent the list to my friend, Micah, so she and her son can try out the photo hunt challenge.

 

Her son used a digital SLR camera and had interesting interpretations. She happily reported to me that they too had loads of fun doing the activity.

Sign.jpg

The view from their perspective

This activity is a great boredom buster and a way to learn the fundamentals of photography like focus, zoom, cropping, lighting, and angles. To make it more challenging for older kids, you can add a time limit to the entire activity, or a time limit per item. You can also allow the use of a simple photo editing program in this activity.

_Marco in Action 2.jpg
_Monday in Action 2.jpg
Light bulb 2.jpg

Expect to see amazing results when you let children take pictures. Let them try out the Photo Hunt Challenge now and see their creativity flow and learn the way they see the world around them.   

TAKE THE PHOTO HUNT CHALLENGE

Share with us the result of this photo challenge in PhotoNation, and by tagging @photonation and @borninfilm in your social media uploads.

lo.jpg

In this column, Lalie will introduce activities and recap events that will inspire kids of all ages to pick up a camera and be part of the PhotoNation Community.

 

bottom of page