More than a toy, teaching and learning with a camera

Yesterday we talked a bit about teaching our kids (and ourselves) how to use a camera to express ourselves a bit better. Today we're going to think about using the camera as a tool for learning.

Enhancing art concepts
There are a great deal of art concepts that transfer into the world of photography: form, line, perspective, mood, detail, etc. Pick a concept and take your kids (or yourself) on a little scavenger hunt. On our last hunt my kids and I thought about lines, curved, strait, vanishing points, broken etc. After we brainstormed as many types of lines as we could think of, and items we could think of that would demonstrate each type of line (park bench, railroad track, power line etc) we made ourselves a little "to find" list before going out on our hunt.

Creative writing opportunities
We all know that a picture is worth a thousand words, right? So why not use a little time with the camera as an opportunity to jump start the creative writing process? Why not challenge your kids to write a story and narrate it with photographs? Or "a day in the life of..." Put on your creative cap and think of some fun scenarios that the kids can document with words and images like "the day plastic frogs invaded our house". Your child has a wonderfully creative voice, let him use the camera to help him enhance the story he wants to tell you.

Now what?
With a hard drive full of photos, and a kid who doesn't particularly want to sit down with a pencil and notebook paper on his day off from school, you're not quite sure where to go next, right? I know. If you're a creative soul like me, your kids are probably a bit over fun posters and snazzy scrapbook stickers as well. Fortunately there are a host of ways for your story teller to share his tale. Think about a blog post, instant print book from snapfish, or an online photo album with Flickr or Facebook that they could forward to their friends...

So what are you waiting for? It's time to empower your little story teller to share his voice. Go forth and photograph!

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