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If you’re like me, you’ve probably taken tons of photos of your kids, but maybe not as many for your kids. Growing up with a both a photographer grandfather and father, there are tons of amazing photos of my brother and I, but very few of our surroundings growing up. I would love now to see a photo of the room I had when I was 8 or my first elementary school (which was torn down shortly after we moved) or the sweet elderly woman who lived behind our house and gave us the best easter candy.

So this entry in the “school’s out” series is for a simple documentary project to create a photo time capsule of all those places and things in your child’s life that you might not otherwise photograph.
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Another entry in the school’s out for summer series…

Here’s a quick three-step photoshop tutorial to make coloring pages for your kids from any digital photo. Kids will love coloring pictures of themselves and their family (what could be more fun than giving grandpa spiky purple hair and a green beard). Other ideas – help your kid take photos of their favorite toys, friends and places in your town or neighborhood (school, library, ice cream shop) and turn them into coloring pages. They make great diversions when you’re on the road or waiting in a restaurant.

Don’t have photoshop? If you use Corel Paint Shop Pro, you can try this .pdf tutorial for making coloring pages.

Continue reading to make your own coloring book…

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It’s the second installment of “school’s out for summer” and this week I’ve got some great cameras and albums for kids to capture and store all those fun-in-the-sun moments.

The Mudpuppy line from Galison has these cute little albums for kids to put all their summer trip and summer camp photos ($10 each).

MoMA has a cool album for the tweens from their Modern Kids line, available in green and purple (on sale now for $7). Kids can use the supplied artwork for the cover or slide in their own picture – album zips closed and holds 36 4×6 photos.

Get your young one started taking pictures with some film cameras that won’t break the bank (and aren’t much more than a disposable camera, another good option for little kids). From left to right – frog, chicken and cow 35mm cameras ($12 each), underwater 35mm camera ($9), and the twin view-finder easy cam ($33).

Want to go digital? Check out the Kid-Tough digital camera for preschoolers($70). Older kids will love the cool colors and sleek shape of the Oregon Scientific 3.0 megapixel ThinCam ($100). Of course, another good option is to get a used digital camera for the kids.

Finally, for the wee-est ones, instead of a real camera get these cute camera shirts ($16, size 12 months). And put together their own little photo book with the “Look at Me” animal photo book ($7), in which you can insert a photo of your tot in each animal face frame.

I wrote a piece for today’s photojojo newsletter – all about cool ways for kids to play with your photos. If you haven’t already signed up for photojojo’s newsletter, go do it now! They have lots of cool photo tips, projects, gear reviews and it really is a fun newsletter to read.

I’m having some server/wordpress issues, so the tattoo project instructions are looking funky right now. Will get that fixed as soon as I can. And, I am going on vacation this week, so posting will be light. But check back next Monday for the next installment of “school’s out…” and more fun photo finds.

Introducing a brand spankin’ new summer series of photo projects for kids. Check back every Monday for new, fun projects for kids to do with their photos – all under the “school’s out” category. All summer long – or until I run out of ideas.

Tattoo You

Kids are tough – they don’t need tattoos to prove it. But what kid wouldn’t like to sport a snazzy tattoo of their choosing (temporary, of course). Here’s a fun little project to make your own photos into the coolest temporary tattoos using your handy little ink-jet printer.

Continue reading for all the how-to fun:

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