Photography: ABC Scavenger Hunt

This such a fun activity that I've done with my daughter and my High School Art Students. The assignment is to search for letters in the environment and take pictures of them. This project forces you to be a better observer and to get close when taking pictures, which are great skills to teach a beginning photographer. To make it simple, start with finding letters of your name and maybe move on to the whole alphabet.  Here are some of our letters.

You can also do this project without a camera.  It makes a walk around the neighborhood more fun and interesting!  It also is educational for little ones in reinforcing their alphabet recognition!

Check out more fun that we've had with photography in these posts: 

Photography From A Preschooler

Scratch Through Photos

Making Art On The Scanner

More Photography Posts will be coming your way in future posts so stay tuned!

Making Art on the Scanner

Have you ever made Art on the Scanner?  We had so much FUN with this. It began with my daughter wondering about how the scanner worked.  I showed her how it was like a camera inside taking pictures and the rest is history.  Keep reading to find out all the kinds of scanner art that we made.

At first I told C to put her hands underneath the scanner hood to print her hands.  She loved that!

Then she put her head underneath (close your eyes....for safety!)  Using the color ink made it super cool! A pretty good representation.

Then Mom tried it!

Then Daddy!

Then lastly, we put some of C's trinkets and treasures to create a Scanner Collage. My daughter thought that was AWESOME!

I know we'll be creating more Scanner Art.  It is such an accessible Art Activity if you have a Scanner or copy machine nearby.

HAVE YOU CREATED SCANNER ART? 

(please share links/pictures)

Scratch Through Photos

This is yet another "scratch technique" among "How to Create your own Scratch Art" and "Scratch Through Paintings".  This technique requires having a photo print.  I know you could probably recreate this technique in Photoshop, but I thought it was still worth sharing.

To Create a "Scratch Through Photo" you'll need:

A photo print

a bowl of warm water

a nail or wooden stick (a nail worked best)

To create your scratch through photo, first place your photo in a bowl of warm water for about a minute or longer.

Then take the photo out and lay it on a paper towel to absorb the moisture.  Get your scratching tools ready. The nail worked best for us.

Now start scratching away. It leaves a yellowish or orangish mark.  I found the photos that worked the best were darker.  When we tried scratching on white areas it didn't seem to work.

I thought this technique was kind of fun and it would be a great way to bring some energy to an old print you might just be throwing away.

What Do You Think?

Photography From a Preschooler

I gave Cassie my older Digital Camera and what a FUN new toy it has been!  Right away she seemed like a natural and she continues to bring out her camera from time to time. (Almost daily!)  Previously I gave C a Toy Digital Camera without the LCD screen  and it was not as fulfilling.  The LCD screen has given Cassie instant feedback and encouragement to take more pictures or to even retake a picture.  (I know I was enamored with this feature with my first Digital Camera!!) The most fascinating thing about this experience has been seeing the perspectives that a young child has through the photographs she has taken.  Things I would never have thought to take a picture of...she has!!! It really gives you a view of how a child sees things in their world!  Here is the photographer! Keep reading to see some of her pics!

Close Face shot! C has done a ton of these! Some with just her mouth or nose! I never gave her the idea!

Mom backing out of the garage! This is her view from the back seat.  She has taken pics of Dad driving down the driveway and down our street too!

Picture of the ceiling and floor lamp!  Lots of ceiling shots too!  I Love these!

Her shadow....maybe inspired by our Shadow Play post???

Our wild strawberries in our back yard.  Cassie always checks to see if they are ripe and wants to eat them!

Ceiling fan and forehead shot!

Our coffee table, basket, and Mom's leg! Lots of low shots too!

Here is a picture of our chipmunk hole in our front yard! Cassie told me she wishes she could go down that hole!  Wouldn't that be fascinating????

C has taken so many more photos!  Maybe I have budding photographer?  Here she is photographing ants!

I coul share more pics if you would like!!! Feedback please!  I sure hope I have inspired you to give your children cameras!  What a valuable experience and FUN too!  It has given me new ideas of what to take photographs of and to think about different perspectives!!!  C has inspired me!

Have we inspired you to give your child a camera?

What experiences have you had with children and cameras?

(Please share!)

Here are some links to help guide your child to take pictures:

(We figured this one out!!!....one tip is Don't buy a kid's Camera!)

11 Simple Tips for Kids: Nature Photography

13 Lessons to Teach Your Child About Digital Photography

Linked to:
It's Playtime