Do you remember the moment you fell in love with photography? Were you very little or did it creep up on you over time? Imagine getting you little ones into using a camera and documenting what they see – what could be more rewarding?

Here, we look at ways to get them excited about this creative art form. Either as something they take up seriously or just a few skills to take away with them.

Cameras for beginners

Although this might seem obvious, you shouldn’t be giving your child a £2,000 SLR to play around with. There’s too much at stake and they would just be so confused about all the bells and whistles (different lenses, buttons etc)! When choosing a camera for your child, bear in mind that simplicity is key to getting them confident behind the camera.

Lifewire recently put together a list of the best cameras for children, which includes durable models that are easy to use – and don’t cost the earth! You can also give them an old camera of yours to play around with.

Pique interest

To show children the best that photography has to offer, you need to provide some interesting subjects and landscapes. Do you have a favourite coastal seascape? A pretty park close by? Maybe the family pet could become the subject of choice?

A petting farm is an excellent choice of location for the little ones who love animals. You could even create a collage of the best images from the day as a canvas print for the bedroom.

A nice little project could be taking new family photographs. Perhaps a new family portrait taken by your child, or new portraits of each member. Having a project – a goal – is always helpful to keep momentum with a hobby. Check out our post on creating a vision board for your next photography project.

Go retro!

Going back to simpler times, you could purchase some old-school photography items for fun. A wind-up camera is great for a cheap way to play around with photography, as well as helping with patience as you eagerly wait for the results to be printed. Can you remember when you’d put the film in to be processed and the cheapest option was a week wait? How times have changed.

Another great option is a polaroid camera. Recently, these cameras have had a resurgence, becoming very popular at weddings, for social media and novelty purposes. A notice board could become home to several of your little one’s polaroid attempts.

A few tips to getting polaroid photography right include:

• Get to grips with the user manual, this will be very different to your normal camera
• Lighting is everything – get to know the polaroid camera’s light meter function (if it has one)
• A polaroid can’t zoom so be sure to crop the image in your viewfinder, moving closer or further away until you’re happy