Homeschool Photography for Kids

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Whilst we were making a town guide for geography, my kids got interested in photography and wanted to do some new projects.

We just have a point and shoot camera, so all the homeschool photography projects here are fairly simple.

I wanted to get them to think about using the camera creatively - but with simple enough projects that they didn't need any fancy equipment and camera options. 

We ended up with quite a few ideas and really enjoyed looking at things 'from a different angle'! I hope you do too.

Photography Projects for Kids :

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Panoramic Photos

These were really fun to do although we had much better results when we used a tripod.

Choose a scene that would be good for a panoramic photo.

Start at one end of the scene and take a photo. Then swing the camera across leaving about one third of the original photo in the new picture. Keep going until you have taken several photographs that overlap.

We downloaded the free (and easy to use) version of Autostitch to stitch our photos together. It didn't always give great results but we were generally pleased with the way it worked.

Fun Ideas - try putting the same person in every shot doing something different.

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Play around with Perspective

Find or make a small model or sculpture. See if you can take a photo that makes it look giant!

A famous example of this is by the photographer Henry Moore. The sculpture in his photograph is only 33cm long - but looks much bigger. The giant in our photograph is 10cm tall.

Experiment by placing your model against different backgrounds. You can make an object look larger by photographing it from below - with a scene behind it (try fields and trees, or a city skyscape).

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Seasonal Variations

This is a fun nature activity, but it does need some patience. The idea is to take photos that will show the passing of time in nature.

Pick a spot that you think will change with the weather. It is usually good to have a tree and some flowers in the photo. Every two or three weeks go back to the same spot and take the same picture. As the seasons pass you will have captured the changes in the scene.

Make a collage showing the passing of time and hang it next to your nature table.

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Time Lapse Photography

In Time Lapse Photography you shoot the same subject (from the same angle) over a period of time. When the photographs are strung together into a film, it effectively 'speeds up' time.

Make a time lapse video and get some time lapse photography ideas.

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Make an Animation

Did you know you could make an animation just using a digital camera? Running through a lot of photographs quickly causes an animation effect to happen.

See how to make your own animation.

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Make a Photographic Journal

Journals are fun to make but again, some of them can take some time to pull together.

Here are some journaling photography for kids ideas ;

Make A Day in My Life journal. Take photographs all day of everything - the socks you wore, the view from the window, any visitors and so on. This will be a great 'snapshot' of your life to look at in the future.

Take one photograph a day every day for a month (or a year!). Each day try to choose something that represents that day to photograph. Photojojo runs a Take a Photo a Day Project.

Take a self portrait every day - as you get older you will see subtle changes in your face - you will be able to watch yourself grow up!

Pick a subject to journal - maybe take a photograph of pieces of litter you see, or everything you eat. Tucker Shaw did this and wrote a book about it

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Try Scanography

Photo courtesy of Brain_centipedes

How about taking close up photographs without a camera?

Scanography uses a flatbed scanner to take pictures that can then be manipulated on your pc. You can great some great effects this way, and there are several artists that specialize in this technique.

Fancy giving it a try? Find out more about scanography for kids.

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Play around with images

Merge different pictures together to take new ones. For example - put a picture of yourself in a place you have never been!

See how to do this here.

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I would love to hear how you get on with my photography for kids projects in your homeschool photography! Do contact me and tell me all about it.

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