Andy,

I was having a lot of fun with my granddaughters at that age with a video game setup in my office/den/studio. One day they thought it would be fun to make videos. I bought the gear and we went to work. At the time I had abandon "serious" photography as a revolt against the switch to digital. They planted a seed that re-lit my interest. They are now in the high school years. They've done well. One is shooting a Nikon and the other has sold paintings. Both are very good phone shooters. One has a huge group following her photography on Instagram.

Enjoy working with them and seeing how fast they can learn!

My wife, co-conspirator in photography, and best friend, a/k/a "Grammy" has been taking care of our 9 and 11 year old grands in Virginia, and came up with a fun idea that they are really enjoying.

She has taken them on a couple of "photo safaris" this week, which is basically her normal recreational pursuit of driving around country roads and stopping to shoot whatever appeals to her. The littles get to tell her where to turn (something my dad used to do with us on Sunday drives), and everyone gets to say "I see something!" when they see a place, view, animal, or object that they want to shoot. Grammy pulls over safely, and they all get out and try to take pictures - Grammy on her DSLR and the littles on their phones. They get back in the car and keep rambling, turning where each kid suggests in turn, and stopping for treats like an ice cream cone or some fine Dollar Store shopping. When they come to a place where they can walkabout, they stretch their legs and shoot some more. When they get home, Grammy uploads everything onto her tablet, and they sit on the couch together deciding which ones they want to enhance. She then sends them to Papa Andy, so he can see where they've been on safari. It's more fun when they call it a safari.


It's kept a couple of energetic kids occupied and entertained for several hours so far in their first week off from school (You don't overdo anything with littles, I've long ago learned), and they're very proud of their work. They're also learning a bit to "see" and to compose, crop, color, etc. Most kids these days have phones with decent cameras and some editing capacity, so they can join right in. And Grammy still gets to go on her photographic rambles.


It's better than teaching them how to take duck face selfies!


Papa Andy

My wife, co-conspirator in photography, and best friend, a/k/a "Grammy" has been taking care of our 9 and 11 year old grands in Virginia, and came up with a fun idea that they are really enjoying.

She has taken them on a couple of "photo safaris" this week, which is basically her normal recreational pursuit of driving around country roads and stopping to shoot whatever appeals to her. The littles get to tell her where to turn (something my dad used to do with us on Sunday drives), and everyone gets to say "I see something!" when they see a place, view, animal, or object that they want to shoot. Grammy pulls over safely, and they all get out and try to take pictures - Grammy on her DSLR and the littles on their phones. They get back in the car and keep rambling, turning where each kid suggests in turn, and stopping for treats like an ice cream cone or some fine Dollar Store shopping. When they come to a place where they can walkabout, they stretch their legs and shoot some more. When they get home, Grammy uploads everything onto her tablet, and they sit on the couch together deciding which ones they want to enhance. She then sends them to Papa Andy, so he can see where they've been on safari. It's more fun when they call it a safari.


It's kept a couple of energetic kids occupied and entertained for several hours so far in their first week off from school (You don't overdo anything with littles, I've long ago learned), and they're very proud of their work. They're also learning a bit to "see" and to compose, crop, color, etc. Most kids these days have phones with decent cameras and some editing capacity, so they can join right in. And Grammy still gets to go on her photographic rambles.


It's better than teaching them how to take duck face selfies!


Papa Andy