Ipad Photography – Fun Tips for Kids

My little girl is becoming a chip off the old block and taking an interest in photography. I’ve not intentionally pushed her to be interested in the same things as me but probably seeing her Mummy with a camera constantly in her hands has contributed a little. I am big, however, on encouraging my girls to follow their hearts and their natural interests in life, hoping that this will help them to be happy as adults. For this reason, I’ve encouraged Miss K (age four and a half) to take more pictures on the ipad, and she needs little encouraging. In this post I’ll give you a few tips that might help to get your kids snapping away and loving it too.

 

The Ipad (or any tablet) is pretty ideal for little kids to shoot with. The large LCD screen gives a good view of the shot they are about to take which makes it easy for composition, not that they think about that a real lot at 4 years old, but it does make it simple if they do. One good thing about Ipad photography is that it offers open-ended creativity for kids without having to purchase more apps, but there are some you can get that are kid-friendly and add to the fun if you choose.

 

• Get a good drop-proof cover – no explanation needed

 

• Go into the security settings and make sure the option to download and delete apps is switched off, just in case they do it by mistake while they have free reign. My kids have deleted the app store app on a couple of occasions, and I’ve had to re-set everything to get it back.

 

• Show them how to use the camera feature then let them go wild and explore at their own creative leisure – I’ve attempted giving Miss K a task, such as taking pictures of things with patterns, but she doesn’t really ‘get it’, she is still a bit young and learning to compose and take a good picture is enough of a task for her at the moment.

 

• If they point the camera at you give them a smile, if only to set the example of how you want them to behave next time the tables are turned and you’re taking their picture (plus you know you look much better when you’re smile anyway)

 

• Take an interest in what pictures they’ve taken (even if they’re blurry and all of the same thing) and point out what you like about them

 

When it comes to photography apps for adults there are almost too many to choose from and it can be a bit overwhelming, but for kids in this age bracket I found it hard to find many at all. This is what we use:

 

• Kidomatic Camera, $2.99 (AU) – Comes in different themes like Monster, Police, Christmas and Princess as well as the original version. We bought the Princess one and both the girls love it. They can take a picture within the app and then decorate it with stickers and cute accessories like tiaras and things. With my kids the decorating often obscures the photo completely, but they’re having fun.

 

• Dora Draw and Play, $4.49 (AU) – This was one of the first kids apps we ever purchased and my girls have always loved it. It’s a general creative art app for kids but it also offers an inbuilt camera plus the option to access the pictures you already have on file. Then you can decorate them however you like in the art studio. I’d totally recommend this app just for art.

 

• Photo Booth, Free and comes standard on Mac software (not sure if you can get it for other tablets though) – Both my kids, but in particular Miss K, have always been fascinated with Photo Booth on my computer. I totally understand because there’s all sorts of quirky effects (eg: turning yourself into a two-headed monster) that you can do with a simple click and see the instant results before you even take the picture. It can be fun! It also comes on the ipad, and is very simple to use even for little ones. 

 

• Flipagram, Free – Little kids will need your help with this one but it’s fun for young and old. Make ‘flipagram’ movies with your photos to music then email and share them as you wish. Here is a Flipagram I made of Miss K’s photos (Warning: you will witness how our house really looks most of the time. Usually I try and shoot at such an angle that you can’t see the mess haha)

My kids share an older Ipad and the photos it takes are grainy and not that great, but they don’t notice those things and it makes great practice for them. At her tender age my daughter’s pictures won’t set the world on fire, but from little things big things grow and I love how she loves taking them.