love of local in Utah
Thursday: Importance of the Arts—Kids & Photography
I am so grateful for all of the wonderful guest writers helping me get my posts done this week, I am busy getting ready for my Birthday Bash tomorrow and will be back to posting regulary soon. I have been learning tons from everyone and excited to learn from Jessica over at Mom Shots.
Photography does not have to be a purely spectator sport or art. There are many ways to get the whole family involved and ways to explore artistic expression, the world around us and the beauty everywhere. There are also many ways to get mom or dad out from behind the camera and sharing the fun with the whole family.
One of my favorite things is to give my children a camera and just let them walk around and snap shots at their own whim. As a parent it is so much fun for me to view the photos that my children take. They have such a different perspective on the world than I do and their photographs really show that. My oldest son took these photos and I treasure them. I love to give him the camera and see his results. I just have to be sure it is a camera that if knocked down or broken won’t be a major issue. My 5 year old is not walking around with my DSLR, that’s for sure!
A photo-walk, or as we call it at my house, a photo-adventure, is a great way to get everyone involved. If you are asking yourself what a photo-walk is, it is just as the name sounds; you walk around a specific area taking pictures of the things you see. This can be a very fun way to discuss how art can be found in the world around us and in the eye of the beholder. Depending on the age of the child you can discuss more advanced artistic themes, rules and theories such as the Rule of Thirds, Color Theory or various elements of design. You can also just spend some nice time together hanging out, laughing and building your family bonds and love.
A photo-walk with a theme such as the letter C or the color blue, is a fun way to experience your neighborhood in a whole new light and also teach really young children their letters, numbers, shapes and colors. We took these photos for the letter A. It was a blast.
Another great photo-adventure theme is a scavenger hunt. Make a list of of random items and then give everyone a copy of that list and a camera. Send them off into the wild blue yonder and see what marvelous images they come back with. You can make it a contest by setting a time limit and the first person back wins if that helps to motivate.
Photo booths are also a great way to build unity while experiencing photography. It’s pretty hard not to laugh hysterically when everyone is piled inside a tiny space making funny faces. This can build wonderful memories that will be treasured always.
There are many games you can play using the camera. With older kids you can make a stop motion animation telling a fun story that they wrote. With kids of all ages you can make funny faces and photograph those. The sky and your imagination is the limit!
I think an important part of teaching our children to love and appreciate art is to display their work in our homes. There are many wonderful and creative ways to display your families artwork and photographs. We need to encourage and foster the love of art in our children. By showing them how much we appreciate their results and by making art a fun experience can help our artists to grow and blossom.
To learn more from Jessica head on over to Mom Shots!
Tags: guest writer, mom shots, photography, thursday
