Digital Cameras to the Rescue!

A couple months ago, your fearless dilly do-ers found themselves with a NEED to visit a very large and magical thrift store. As our schedules filled and the need grew we found that the only time we could do it would be in the good old summertime during a school break which would mean the kidlets would have to come with us! How were we to entertain the tots so that we could mosey about vintage linens and mismatched pyrex? The a-ha moment came when the happy, colorful, child-proof digital cameras were unearthed. We would assign them a photo scavenger hunt and buy us maybe, hopefully, at least twenty (more like fifteen) minutes to browse.**

We took a moment to pause before entertain the enormous wonderland and created a list of easy and not-so-easy objects the wee ones could photograph. We instructed NO RUNNING, TAKE YOUR TIME and STICK TOGETHER as we handed off the list to the boy wonder. Hand in hand off they went and we made a mad dash for the linens. Here's what was on the list:

*something shiny
*something cowboy
*polkadots
*Elvis
*something Hawaiian
*the letter A (x2)
*5 clocks (one must be a grandfather clock)
*a heart
*two Elmos
*suitcase, preferably blue
**bonus white shoesAnother fun thing to do with a digital camera and a bored kid involves a somewhat fancier camera that allows for color accenting. Prep the camera to a bright and happy color like yellow and ask your kidlet to snap photos of only yellow things. We did this with the wonder boy as well and he snapped some wonderful shots all from the backseat of the car on the drive home from another shopping day.


For a nifty review of digital cameras for kids, check out Chris's post on alpha mom

**some stores may not allow photography so make sure it's okay to snap away and of course, this is not recommended for an unattended child under the age of seven nor is it intended for a space so large you cannot see where your child is at all times. And of course you could always do this with a disposable camera. It will just take a while longer for the results!

This is a great activity for home, in the car or on a walk. You can come up with a list together, make it an ongoing game for the year; say pictures of things that are red or you can use it as a party game. It lends itself to oodles of ideas, have fun!