Photography Activities for Kids

Activity 1: Photography Activities for 3-5-year-olds

You may not be be able to talk much about photography skills at this age but you can familiarize them with the camera and try some of these activities that involve a camera.

1. Learn the Colors: Have your child walk around the house or yard and look for objects of different colors and then photograph them.

2. Find and Seek Letters: Have your child find and photograph objects that begin with a specific letter or sound.

3. Phonics and Letter Search: Kids can either find objects that start with letters in their name or they could look for things that look like letters that make their name.

As your child gets older, start introducing three important elements of taking a picture:

Rule of thirds: Visually dividing a picture into 3 equal parts with each being a pleasing picture standing alone.

Negative space: The space around and between the subject should be interesting. The use of negative space is a key element of artistic composition.

Pay attention to the sun: Do not take pictures into the sun. Keep the light source to your back.

Activity 2: Half and Half Picture

In this activity half the artwork comes from a photograph and half the artwork is drawn or painted by your child. An ideal activity for encouraging kids to think outside the box. Using part of a photo provides supportive guidelines, but the hand-designed portion allows creativity to take flight.

What You’ll Need:

• Old magazines.
• Scissors.
• Glue.
• Drawing paper.
• Pencil, charcoal or colored pencils.

Step 1: Look through an old magazine for a picture of a person’s face. Make sure it is somewhat symmetrical (a picture with similar halves).

Step 2: Cut the picture out, then cut it in half down the middle of the face. Glue one half of the picture on a piece of drawing paper. Discard the other half.

Step 3: Use a pencil to sketch in the other half of the face. Try to match the facial features. Then color it in with charcoal or colored pencils.

Once you’ve practiced this drawing technique, try sketching some other symmetrical pictures such as a person’s body, a penguin, or a house.