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

Glad you liked Grammy's safaris. And Photo Walks is also great - you can do it right in the back yard!

The interesting thing is that young kids (at least ours...) start "taking pictures" as soon as they get their first cell phone. And that age is getting younger and younger.

They are all quite aware of the concept of "Art" - from kindergarten onward, all of our kids and grands have always provided a constant stream of drawings, paintings, and sculptures for Mom/Dad and Grammy/Papa.


Putting the two together by encouraging them to make "art" images to be shared with others was Grammy's little stroke of genius, in my entirely unbiased opinion. The idea that the phones they had in their pockets were tools to make art seemed new, and now they're also interested in what Grammy uses to make such pretty pictures.


They're only young once!

Andy