Photo Projects for Kids
Keep the little ones occupied, while testing their creativity.Dave Johnson
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Feature: Photo Projects for Kids
Adults aren't the only ones who love photography; children seem to have an innate love of picture taking as well. If you need proof, just give a kid a disposable camera and watch their eyes light up! And I know that it was my dad's generosity with his camera that stimulated my life-long love of photography.
These days, there are quite a number of digital cameras that are cheap enough for the younger set. But sometimes children need a few fresh ideas to keep taking pictures. This week, I've got a few suggestions for photo projects that the younger set might enjoy. I've used them in my own family, but they could be used in the classroom, at summer camps, or anywhere else kids congregate.
Conduct a Mystery Photo Contest
When they first get access to a camera, it seems like kids never run out of cool things to take pictures of. But after a while, the thrill wears off and they stop taking pictures of everything that moves. So when the kids in your life need some inspiration, suggest that they conduct a Mystery Photo Contest. If they're so inclined, it could become a weekly event.
What is a Mystery Photo Contest, you ask? Picture something like this. What is it? Well, that's what the contest is all about.
Armed with a camera, task the kids with sniffing out ordinary objects. When taken close-up, many common things take on weird, unusual, and otherworldly appearances--especially if they're shown upside down or at an unexpected angle. If you don't want to entrust the kids with an expensive digital camera, you've got options. If you have a scanner, you can send them off to shoot pictures with a cheap disposable camera, then scan the pictures into your PC.
Once the pictures are on the PC, kids can make a game of letting others guess the subject in each picture as they're shown on-screen as a slide show. Make this as simple or elaborate as you like--I've even seen it done as a multiple choice quiz.
By the way, the previous photo is the tip from a container of white glue. Did you guess it? Perhaps you're ready to be a contestant in your next Mystery Photo Contest.
Make a Photo Jigsaw Puzzle
When is a digital photo also a game the whole group can play? When it's a jigsaw puzzle.
If you're looking for a new and unique activity for a bunch of kids, consider turning pictures they've taken into jigsaw puzzles, which you can then solve together or give to the kids to solve on their own. You can make pictures into real, live puzzles by gluing a photo print onto a piece of cardboard (the thicker the better), and then carefully cutting it into curved pieces.
If you're not handy with glue and scissors, you can solve your puzzles on the computer screen. In the past, I've written about computer games that let you turn your digital photos into puzzles. For instance, BrainsBreaker is a game that lets you create jigsaw puzzles out of any picture on your computer.
The program's $20, and you can download a free trial from PC World.
Make a Photo Journal
There's a little reporter in every child, or so it seems. Making a Photo Journal helps develop this aspect of their intellect. Here's how it works.
In the Family: Each child picks one day in the week to carry a digital camera around and snap pictures of anything that they find interesting. There's just one rule: Take pictures. Lots of pictures.
When the camera comes home at the end of the day, your child transfers the pictures to the PC, then organizes the images into a journal, complete with captions for each picture. (You may need to help with this, depending on the child's age.) You can keep these journals on the PC--in a program like Microsoft PowerPoint, for instance--or print them and bind them into homemade books.
There's an added benefit to the Photo Journal: Not only is it fun, but you get glimpses into your children's day that you can keep and look back on for years to come.
In the Classroom: The idea is the same here, except that every child gets a chance to document "a day in the life" of their class. One or more children is designated "Reporter of the Day." The Reporter's job is to take pictures of everything their class does during a typical day. The resulting pictures are loaded into a computer program, given captions, and turned into a journal for all the students to enjoy. This is of course needs to be adapted to your classroom's particular situation, but you get the idea.
Dave's Favorites: Replace Paint With Paint.Net
Every version of Microsoft Windows, all the way back to Windows 3.1, has included a little program called Paint. It was originally intended as a bitmap drawing program. You get a brush, some colors, a text tool, and that's about it.
We have somewhat more sophisticated graphics needs these days, but Windows still includes the same old Paint program--and I know that many folks try to edit photos with it. Maybe it's time to replace Paint with something new. That's exactly what some students at Washington State University have done (with some help from Microsoft).
Paint.Net originated as a senior design project in spring 2004. It's currently in an "alpha" state, but it's stunning nonetheless. The program supports multiple layers with transparency; a slew of drawing, painting, and selection tools; a clone brush; and special effects like motion blur, red-eye removal, and oil painting. Unlike Paint, it even lets you specify the compression/quality level when saving a JPEG. One of the coolest features is that windows--like the layers palette, toolbar, and color wheel--turn transparent when you're not using them, so you can see through them to the picture canvas underneath.
When you install Paint.Net, it can replace Paint or live in harmony alongside it. Paint.Net is free, and, according to the Web site, is actively being improved all the time. I've used the program and found it to be stable and reliable, and only about 10,000 times better than Paint. You should definitely try it out.
Q&A: Where Did My Windows XP Picture Tasks Go?
I often get advice to use the "Picture Tasks list" in the pane on the left side of the My Pictures folder. How do you get this list to appear? I can open the My Pictures folder but can't figure how to get this list; it doesn't appear automatically. I am using Windows XP.
--Donald Stoye, Roseville, California
Most people don't have any trouble getting to the Picture Tasks list, which lives in the Windows task pane. The task pane is visible by default when you use Windows XP. The problem is that some folks accidentally turn it off and then have no idea how to switch it back on again. It sounds like that's happened to you, Donald.
To turn on Windows XP's task pane, open your My Pictures folder and then choose Tools, Folder Options from the menu. On the General tab, click "Show common tasks in folders" and then click OK. When you click the Folders button at the top of the screen, the task pane will be switched on again in all of your Windows XP folders.
Hot Pic of the Week
Get published, get famous! Each week, we select our favorite reader-submitted photo based on creativity, originality, and technique. Every month, the best of the weekly winners gets a prize valued at between $15 and $50.
Here's how to enter: Send us your photograph in JPEG format, at a resolution no higher than 640 by 480 pixels. Entries at higher resolutions will be immediately disqualified. If necessary, use an image editing program to reduce the file size of your image before e-mailing it to us. Include the title of your photo along with a short description and how you photographed it. Don't forget to send your name, e-mail address, and postal address. Before entering, please read the full description of the contest rules and regulations.
This Week's Hot Pic: "Bowling," by Jason Barnes, Marshall, Michigan
Jason used a Nikon CoolPix 5800 to grab this clever action photo of a night out at the lanes. He lined up the camera on the ball return and used a shutter speed that was slow enough to blur the motion of the bowler--but fast enough to hold the camera in his hands, avoiding the need for a tripod.