Last week my husband and I went camping with our baby and toddler. For backup, we also brought my parents, my brother and my sister. ;)
used years ago. I tucked it inside my own camera case, thinking that my daughter might enjoy taking some of her own photos while we were camping.
The "cramera" turned out to be a huge hit! When we first gave it to her, we explained that she needed to be very careful with it, and keep it in the case (or, as she says, its "suitcase.") We showed her how to turn it on, and how to snap a photo. Other than that, we gave her very little instruction. We told her to take pictures of whatever she wanted.
We got back from our trip yesterday, and I had so much fun downloading her photos onto my computer and taking a look at the images that she had captured. Some of the photos turned out so well, and others were hilariously awful. It was so interesting to see what things she deemed worthy of photographing. It was fascinating getting a chance to see things from my daughter's point of view.
I also know that Emma is very proud of her photos, so I'm planning to turn them into a photo book for her so that she can look at them again and again. But first, I wanted to give you a chance to see some of the photos she took. I hope you enjoy them as much as I did!
The world through the eyes of a 2 year old
A lot of the photos that Emma took show what the world looks like to someone who is about 3 feet tall.
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| The picnic table at our campsite |
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| The ceiling of the tent, viewed from Emma's bed |
The people she loves
When I looked through Emma's photos, I thought it was so sweet that she had taken multiple photos of everyone in our family. It was very clear that these people mean the world to her!
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| Grammy |
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| Grandpa |
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| Uncle Jeff |
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| Aunt Amy |
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| Daddy |
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| Baby sister, Kate |
The meaningful things
I found multiple pictures of all of Emma's most precious treasures, as well as the things around the campsite that she most enjoyed:
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| Emma's "baby" taking a stroller ride |
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| The beloved campfire |
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| Emma's pillow in our tent |
Our trip to the zoo
One day, we left the campsite in order to enjoy the animals at a nearby wildlife preserve. Emma had a blast taking pictures of all of her favorite animals. We could tell that she had really enjoyed a particular exhibit if, before we left, she announced, "I want to take a picture of them!"
Selfies
More than once, Emma handed the camera to one of us and demanded that we take pictures of her. I have a feeling that these will be some of her favorites to look back on!
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| Emma and Aunt Courtney |
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| Emma playing the penny whistle with Grandpa looking on |
Things that I would never even think to photograph!
I had to laugh when I saw some of the things that Emma decided to take pictures of. For example:
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| Apparently, this is what it looks like when we clean Kate up after a meal- NOT her favorite thing in the world! |
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| A little hard to tell, but this was what was left of Emma's hamburger, cooked over the campfire. |
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| A close-up of the ketchup on Emma's plate! |
CONCLUSION:
In hindsight, giving my toddler a camera was one of the best things I could have done during our week-long camping trip with my family.
Did we end up with a ton of blurry pictures? YES! Did she block the lens with her fingers during every other shot? Of course! But she also had a wonderful time documenting all of the interesting, exciting and amazing new experiences she was having.
And what's more, my family had a great time helping her figure it out! Every time Emma announced that she wanted to take a picture of something that was special or memorable to her, one of my family members was more than happy to help her do so.
Emma told me that she can't wait to bring her "cramera" with her to the beach next month, and I'm already getting excited to see how those photos will turn out!!! Stay tuned. :)
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