Dear Stay Focussed reader!
Welcome to July's newsletter.
In the Northern Hemisphere it's nearly time for school summer holidays.
If you're a photographer and a parent you are presented with a wonderful opportunity to not only get out taking photos, but also entertain the kids too.
And if you're not a parent, but get called upon to take on the parenting duties at some point over the holidays this is for you too!
Summer holiday kids tips
The first thing to do is either buy a cheap digital camera for the children to use, or find an old one that you don't use anymore and don't mind them having.
I wouldn't advise getting a camera specifically for kids. These tend to be expensive. A simple digital is not only a real camera (which they will probably appreciate) but it's also cheaper!
The next step is to come up with a theme or idea. Kids love stories, so to keep them involved you could get them to photograph a story of some sort.
Some story ideas for you:
Get them to photograph things that go with a favourite story of theirs (let's say it's the Gruffalo - they could photograph a tree (the deep dark wood), a nut (the hazel nut), toy animals (representing the animals in the story)...
Make a photo diary of a day out - photos of everyone getting ready, photos en-route, some activities of the day and then the return journey.
Make a photo recipe. Let's say you're going to do some cake making with them. They photograph all the ingredients, the mixing, the baking, the finished cake and of course the eating!
If you keep in mind the concept of a start, middle and end you will be able to come up with plenty of ideas. It's the start middle and end part that keeps kids interested - as I said before, kids love stories!
To finish it all off you could print some of the photos out, get hold of a scrap book, and they can stick the photos in and make their very own story book.
Finally, the photo at the top of this newsletter is of me, the wife and our youngest enjoying a day out - one of many taken that day by our 5 year old son.
It's not the most perfect shot in the world, but does go to show what a five year old can do.
If you're stuck for things to do this holiday season, apart from photography, I can highly recommend this downloadable and printable children's activity pack. It's bursting with ideas (literally hundreds) to keep the little ones happily entertained. They learn as they go too - bonus!
Download the activity pack here - it comes with a 100% money back guarantee and might just be the best $49 you ever spend!
See you next month,
Darrell.
