How To Get Your Child Interested In Photography

Photography is one of the easiest & best hobbies anyone can take up. Anyone can do it, it can be done anywhere and it doesn’t necessarily require loads of expensive equipment to get started. That means it’s the perfect hobby for children. Whilst it may seem that with mobile phones and tablets, children are almost born to type, swipe & take photographs. To truly understand and appreciate photography takes a little bit more time, patience & consideration. We take a look at some effective ways that you can help get your children starting to take up photography as a hobby.

Take your time

One of the foundations of getting your kids into photography is to take your time and don’t rush things. Children learn in a different way than adults and experts recommend that teaching them about photography in small, bite-sized chunks is much better and much more effective than long, in-depth sessions. To start off with just encourage them of different ways of playing around with the camera.

The fact is, photography has lots of technical elements that can smother a child’s enthusiasm for the subject if taught all at once. It’s much better to let children concentrate on one thing at a time. Whilst this can mean it takes them a little bit longer to be a competent and confident photographer, it will mean that they are much more likely to actively engage with the hobby for many years to come.

Tell stories

Children love telling stories, so why not let them tell a story with their camera?

Telling a story in pictures that they have taken themselves is an amazing way to fire-up their imagination and discover how wonderful the art of photography can be. Also by printing out the pictures and displaying them around the home will make them feel really proud. Something simple like a photo magnet to stick on the fridge or a keyring made from their own photos that that can carry around in their pocket can boost their confidence & help encourage them. They may even want to show them off to their teacher and classmates at school.

Take a camera everywhere

Spontaneity is something that children love so why not take a camera with you wherever you are with your child? Then, whenever you see something worth photographing,  you can. This can really engage children and help them to see the world in a more creative way, always looking for something to photograph and considering how it can be done.

There’s also the bonus too that taking photographs is a great way of recording memories and they can be enjoyed for many years to come.

Fun & Games With Their Camera

Kids love games, so why not spend the day having fun by using their camera in a variety of different photo games? This will not only keep them entertained but also get them thinking of more creative ways of using their camera. Here is a great little photo game idea that the younger kids will enjoy..

Why not have a Photo Hunt? This could just be around the house, or if the weather’s good then get them to venture out into the garden.
The idea of the game is to get them to photograph as many things as they can starting with a particular letter (‘M’ for example) or perhaps a certain colour like Green or Red. You get the idea. By doing this they will soon start building up a whole load of photos.
The most important part & once they have completed their task, is to sit down with them and take some time to go through all of their pictures together. Each of you can then go on to pick your favourite photo & explain to each other what it is that you most like about it.

Keep a Record To Show Progress

It’s always good when children can see improvements in their photography, one way of doing this is to keep some sort of record. This could be done in a number of ways. You could encourage them to create a photo diary where they pick one photo for each day, or a simple scrapbook that can be plastered with lots of their photos.

The aim of this is to create a portfolio of their photography which they can build up over time & then look back on to see how they have progressed.
For older children, they could get a bit more creative by starting their own photo blog, this may require some supervision from an adult if published on the internet, or could simply be set up as a private blog just for themselves

Editing

The joy and creativity of photography isn’t just in the taking of the photographs, it’s in the editing as well. Thanks to the advent of digital photography, the creative process is almost limitless which can really fire up the imagination of children.

Playing around and editing photos on a laptop, PC, tablet or even a smartphone is immense fun and is great to do on a rainy day when getting out and about with a camera is not possible.

Photography Course Or Workshop

If they continue to show enthusiasm & interest in photography or perhaps are starting to show a bit of talent or flare, you may wish to further encourage their hobby by enrolling them into a children’s photography course or workshop.

There are plenty of different options available which cater for all different ages, ability levels. From local photographer workshops or groups to enable them meet up with other children interested in photography in your area, kids online photography starter courses, or if you have a bigger budget you may wish to consider booking them on a children’s photography adventure holiday where they will likely develop turn into a fully fledged shutterbug.

Make it fun!

Lastly, and most importantly, however you choose to try and get your child into photography, keep it fun! The more fun you make it, the more likely they are to engage with it and begin a lifelong enjoyment of the wonderful hobby of photography. Who knows, they may even one day choose to make a career out of it!