Spring Break Photographic Adventures

I've mentioned before that I have a five year old (boy), a six year old (girl) and a seven year old (another boy), so the projects we work on fit a pretty good age gap and they aren't gender specific.

When attempting to battled the "Spring Break Boredom," we like to plan out what's going to happen throughout the week. That way, the kids always know what to expect and know when they have to find things to do on their own. (Like, when I have to battle the mountain of laundry, for example.) One of the things we plan during Spring Break is to go on at least one photographic adventure. Here are some places we've gone with our cameras for some Spring Break fun:

1: the park (we bring a picnic, too)

2: our backyard (we're surrounded by woods, so there's a lot of opportunity)

3: the shore (we're about 45 minutes away, so this takes some additional planning in terms of food, time and other activities)

4: Grandma's house!

5: the downtown area (we live in an "old town" with old buildings, so it makes for interesting pictures)

When we're on our photographic adventures, I give each of the kids a disposable camera to work with and I carry one to take pictures of them while they're exploring and hunting for that perfect picture opportunity. I capture these moments so I can create a "what we did on Spring Break" scrapbook with them later. Here are some picture ideas I encourage with the kids:

1: up close pictures of bark, plant life and rocks

2: "found objects" in the woods or next to an old building

3: the details from an old building

4: a garden

5: animals we come across

6: the path we're walking on

7: bugs we come across

8: up close pictures of leave patterns

9: nests we come across

10: prints we leave while walking

When I develop the film, I get two sets from each camera. That way, there's a lot of pictures to choose from when we work on our art projects later on. There's also opportunity to use their pictures (or parts of their pictures) in the spring break scrapbook we create. Some of the projects we use our pictures with include:

1: greeting cards

2: postcards

3: picture frames

4: collages

5: gift tags

6: bookmarks

7: gift boxes

8: key chains

9: book covers

10: mobiles

Most of what we create from these spring break photographic adventures are used for Easter gifts, Father's Day gifts, birthday gifts, "thinking of you" gifts (for distant relatives) and other occasions where a thoughtful gift is needed. The idea that we're creating these pieces of art for future gifts encourages the kids to produce their best work and excites them knowing it'll be a treasure for whoever is the recipient.