How to get kids to play outside: Try a camera

study of 3rd Place, Brooklyn

If you want to get kids off the couch and into the Great Outdoors, try giving them a camera to play with. Kids love cameras! Buy a cheap one and don’t worry too much about the quality. For most kids, taking pictures is all about snapping the photos and not so much about how they look.

You might even suggest a photo essay. (And for extra credit, why not hold a contest and offer a prize?)

Here are some photo essay ideas:

• Alphabet objects (apple tree, bark, creek, dirt, etc.)

• Pictures of what people do when it snows (shoveling, sledding, cleaning off their cars)

• Animal pawprints (pigeons and squirrels count!)

• Scat (wild animal poop)

• Clouds

• The first snowfall

• Pictures from the point of view of a cat or squirrel

• Draw pictures in the snow and take photos of the pictures

• Shots of birds or other wildlife

And if you need further inspiration, just look to the master, Ansel Adams:

http://www.anseladams.com/Branches_in_Snow_p/1701016102.htm

Have fun!