Photography is a fun hobby for kids, and it can even evolve in to a valuable skill and possibly even a career some day. My daughter Ava is only 3-years-old, but she is absolutely obsessed with taking pictures – and posing for pictures. She disappears with my smart phone and comes back with hundreds of pictures in my saved albums. Even at such a young age she already likes to set up backdrops, and pick out outfits and different poses. We gave her an old digital camera, and she has been going to town with it. Ever since then I realized that taking pictures isn’t just a fun game to her, it might be her very first hobby and I can’t wait to watch her new hobby grow and evolve over the course of the next few years.

Photography Resource Just for Kids

If you have a budding little photographer on your hands – then I highly recommend picking up a copy of National Geographic Kids Guide To Photography. The how-to book’s reading level is 8-12 years old, but somehow they manage to teach some excellent photography tips that the pros use, all while making it easy for elementary school kids to comprehend. I picked up the National Geographic Kids Guide To Photography so that I could learn a bit about photography myself, and be able to work with Ava on her new hobby. Ironically, my 3-year-old daughter began flipping through the book and was eating up all of the amazing pictures, and they inspired her to want to take more photos herself.

The National Geographic Kids Guide to Photography offers helpful and insightful tips for kids who are interested in photographing landscapes, animals, sports, and people. There are also some educational pieces on different cameras and their lenses, and helpful tutorials on setting up lighting. As always our friends at National Geographic Kids somehow manage to make it all exciting and easy to understand for growing minds. And, one of the co-authors is none other than Annie Griffiths – an award-winning photographer and one of the first female photographers to ever work for National Geographic. Her work has been featured in over 100 different magazines – if there is anyone who knows a thing or two about photography, it’s Annie Griffiths!

My Shot Contest

Sure, your kids might not be ready to shoot their first spread for National Geographic any time soon – but they can upload their pictures to National Geographic Kids My Shot, and get feedback on their work and possibly win prizes. National Geographic kids is also holding a photography contest, which can be found on My Shot, the prize package for the winner includes an all-expenses paid trip to Washington, DC! Make sure you help your little photographers in training submit their work online!

Photography is a great way to keep kids busy during the summer – and who knows, some day their little hobby could win them some scholarship money, or a prestigious award or two. You can help you kids turn their fun little hobby in to a life-long skill by investing in the National Geographic Kids Guide To Photography. And, don’t forget to help them sign up for My Shot, so they can get their creative juices flowing and see what other young photographers are working on. Hey, you never know – you could be raising the next Annie Griffiths!

Disclosure: I am part of the National Geographic Kids Insider program. I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.