Families have new Photographers: Children

Who Is Your Family Photographer?

This time of the year families get together and create memories.  Often at the end of the visit,  someone will say, “Oh, we forgot to take pictures while we were all together!”  Children can be trained to be official photographers. They can be encouraged to take a few really good and interesting photos and decide which ones to keep.

  Children as young as 4 can take pictures responsibly with guidance. First teach them the basics.  If you want new digital camera, the Canon Power Shot ELPH 180 is highly recommended for youngsters first learning to use a camera. It costs a little over $100 and takes photos almost as good as an expensive Smart Phone.

Where to Start

   If you do let kids use your Smart Phone, there are many editing Apps like Enlight Photofox where a team of teens and youngsters can have surprisingly professional results.  You can search Apps for kids’ photography, Pixlplay adapted Smart Phones for kids, Kidizoom camera, and places to save kids’ photos on line.

   Now back to the traditional digital camera. Professionals 

Decide What You Want to Capture

have suggestions. Show children how to hold the camera with the strap always around their wrist with the camera tight against their body perfectly still. Show them how to use the buttons: power, snap shot, replay, and trash. Then explain how to decide what they want to take by just looking through the screen. They can practice taking close ups and extreme close ups safely inside the house without using the zoom.  Young children are often too unsteady for the zoom.

Photography Patience

   The first time photographer will probably use up the battery clicking away so don’t expect a great deal of keepers. Point out that a photographer needs light or flash but does not point into the light unless there is a reason. Show them what 

Look For the Creative Angle

happens if you do.  What interests them might be very different from what you want or what interests you for a while. At least everything is digital and can be erased.

  Children can practice for portraits by lining up their toys and taking close ups of human faces. They can take photos of hands or shoes so the family can play “Guess Who?” A patient family pet is also a good subject. Try to stay away from selfies, experts suggest. Teach close up, medium, and full body shots.  When they are good at those show them the zoom. However, teach them to choose their shot carefully and hold really still or put the camera on a flat surface for zooming.

 You can encourage them to try creative angles, like being on their back looking up through a tree, or looking down from the top of the stairs. For more ideas see grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and Facebook, wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons, and Pinterest.

Photos: Fran Darling, fdarling fotos

New Media Use Plan Helps Families

Journal of Pediatrics Guides Parents & Grands

The latest journal of Pediatrics October 2016 (aappublications.org), has released new recommendations for technology use by children. The report “Media and Young Minds” relates how technology can be managed in the home (healthychildren.org/Media Use Plan), the number of suggested hours of screen time, and helpful hints for parental guidance.

Positive Technology

  The report mentions some positive aspects and uses. 

Many Positives

Pediatricians still maintain that children younger than 18 to 24 months, a time of rapid brain development, should not have screen time. However, it is healthy, for families to get together with online resources like Facebook and Skype to chat with relatives and friends. Technology allows far flung families to see each other, communicate, and nurture connections.

Children Should Interact With Apps 

 If parents want to introduce some shows or apps they should watch with the children and be very selective. Even infants exposed to screen media blue light while in the lap show significantly shorter night-time sleep duration than those with no evening screen exposure.  Reading e-Books is different from reading a traditional book with illustrations on an adult’s lap.

   This age is better off on the floor actively playing and talking with family. “Because of their immature symbolic memory and attentional skills, infants and toddlers cannot learn from traditional digital media as they do from interactions with caregivers, and they have difficulty transferring that knowledge to their 3-dimensional experience. The chief factor that facilitates toddlers’ learning from commercial media (starting around 15 months of age) is parents watching with them and reteaching the content,” according to the report. Authors include Dr. Jenny Radesky from the University of Michigan and Dr. Megan Moreno from the Seattle Children’s Hospital.

Age Appropriate Guidelines

The guidelines recommend children ages 2-5 have a one- hour limit of screen time. They again recommend that families watch with the children, talk about what is being seen, and carefully select shows from PBS Kids and the Sesame Street Workshop. Children need to be active, talking, and reading with adults.  There is no substitute for human interaction and relationship for developing a healthy brain and the rest of the body. 

Singing With the App

According to the new report, children flourish during unstructured time.  They need to get outside discovering things in 3- D rather than on a two dimensional screen, crucial for development.   

Doable Reasonable Guidelines

  Pediatricians continue to urge families to include one hour of physical activity, 8-12 hours of sleep, and unplugged family time like meals.

Use Reason and Good Judgement with Media

• Ban screen time one hour before bedtime since noise and light can disrupt sleep.
•  Discourage use of entertainment media during homework time since multitasking interferes with learning. Monitored educational sites can help with homework learning.
• Continue to monitor what kids watch and do on–line.  Discuss on-line bullying, sexting, and other hazards with older children.

Websites Best Apps for Kids & Parents Magazine sites:

http://www.bestappsforkids.com/category/apps-by-age-grade/toddler-apps/ 

http://www.parents.com/fun/entertainment/gadgets/the-best-iphone-apps-for-babies-and-toddlers/?slideId=40807

For more go to -  grandparentsteachtoo.blogspot.com and wnmufm.org/Learning Through the Seasons live Tuesdays at 4:30pm and Saturdays at 8:30 am and pod casts archived on the site.

Ever Wonder What To Do When Your Children Wonder?

So many questions: How does the sun work? Where do stars go in the daytime? How come you can hear me? Can people disagree and still be friends? There is a place you can go to find answers to these wondrous wonders and more or even post your own personal “wonder.” That place is the online community called Wonderopolis and it’s all free!

Materials Needed:

You just need an internet-connected device and the Wonderopolis web address: http://wonderopolis.org/

What To Do:

On the home page of the site you will find many exciting activities and events on the main page. You will also see a menu on the side that will take you to their treasure store of interesting ideas and information. You can view the “Wonder of the Day”; Explore “Wonders”; submit your own “Wonder”; vote for favorite “Wonders.” There is also an “Educator Sandbox” page that offers many great ideas and instructions for activities to do with your children.

A special summer event is being held online right now: Camp What-A-Wonder. It runs Monday – Friday, June 17 – July 26, with a new theme each week. Sign up to receive the Camp What-A-Wonder Bulletin to keep up with all the latest Camp updates. 

Once at the site, you can also use the “Follow Us” menu to receive daily “Wonders” on your Facebook, Twitter, or RSS accounts. You can also enter your phone number and e-mail address to subscribe to receive the “Wonder of the Day” right in your message inbox. There is also a mobile app rated Best Kid’s App by Parenting Magazine that you can add to your android or iOS device.

What Is a “Wonder”?

Let’s look at today’s Wonder of the Day: What Does It Mean To Agree To Disagree? There is an entire web page devoted to analyzing this question from a variety of viewpoints. There are pictures that symbolize the concepts, a video and an audio storytelling example. There are also Wonder Words to expand vocabulary in this area. There are interactive “try outs” and a quiz to engage your child.

How Does This Help My Children?
Everyone wonders...it happens anywhere, anytime. Encourage your children to be explorers on paths to new discovery. Since Wonderopolis started in 2010, it has been recognized as a fresh approach to wonder and learning, receiving many awards for organizations such as: Time magazine, Parenting.com, USA Today and Learning Magazine. The "Wonder" content aligns with current school curriculum standards, too. 

For more great educational activities visit Grandparents Teach, Too web page and listen to WNMU Radio 90 Learning Through the Seasons podcasts.

Photos: Wonderopolis website

iPad Apps for Young Children

Exploring new electronic games and activities is very engaging and can be great learning tools for young children. Technology expert, Richard Byrne, has collected a recommended list of these apps on his web site: iPad Apps for School. Look in the pre-school section found at: http://ipadapps4school.com/category/pre-k/ to see this varied list of activity apps.

Richard includes apps for recognizing emotions, reading, writing practice, story creation, a virtual zoo, and many more. Many of these are free and some are available for both iPad and Android platforms.

Check these out on iTunes or through Richard's site. As always, make sure children vary their time with physical activities and other interactions.  Time on electronic devices should be a healthy balance with many other daily activities.

Enjoy!