I've been doing my best to get better about bringing along the kids' camera when we go on our outings. The only problem we tend to have is that the olders almost always want to take pictures at the same time. This leads to whining, arguments, and general unpleasantness that this mommy wants to keep to a minimum. The other day I decided to be smart about it for once and I had them each bring along a sketch pad and pencil, but I didn't tell them why.
We then headed for the community gardens where I gave them strict instructions (I even put on my serious face so they knew it was no joke):
- They would take turns with the camera and could only take ten pictures per turn. Any shots over quota would be deleted. This ensured that they were extra conscious of what they snapped. [Full disclosure: I never deleted any, but no one noticed]
- When choosing objects to capture they were to take light, shadow and color into consideration. I figure we can go into composition another time.
- While the one was clicking away, the other was to pick something in the garden that they either had, or planned to photograph, and draw it in their sketch book.
When we got home we transfered the photos to the laptop and I had the kids compare their sketches to the photograph. If they wanted to they could then color their drawings in. There were no rules for the coloring.
These are Maggie's photo and colored sketch:
Wow, she did a really great job! That is such a cool idea, really has them give thought.
Posted by: Cindy | August 03, 2007 at 10:05 AM