How to Get Children Interested in Photography and Videography
Nurture the budding creatives in your life with our guide to sparking children's interest in videography and photography. These family-friendly tips cover fun and educational activities, age-appropriate equipment and fostering a love for visual storytelling. Go ahead and inspire the next generation of photographers and videographers!
Find local filming activities
From summer holiday clubs to workshops and drop-in days, there are plenty of opportunities. Not only can your children get technical advice and training from professional cameramen, videographers or photographers, but they will meet other children with similar interests. This can help to build lifelong soft skills like communication, time management and creativity. Chocolate Films Workshops is the official workshop partner of Nine Elms Studio and they provide a range of weekend and holiday workshops in our space.
Master a specific genre
Starting with fundamentals like light, focus and perspective is a solid way to teach photography. Once children become more confident, they can get more hands-on with filming and photography techniques.
A particularly fun genre is stop motion animation, as seen in films like Wallace and Gromit, Chicken Run and The Nightmare before Christmas. In this method, a sequence of slightly-changing photographs is captured. When played back at speed, it looks like the objects are moving - just like magic. We filmed a comprehensive digital workshop for children in the studio last year - you can join it here.
Get messy
While photography and videography have strong links to the National Curriculum - particularly Design and Technology, Art and ICT - learning doesn’t have to feel like a school lesson. Studies have shown that messy play can help children to pick up new skills and boost their confidence.
You can be endlessly creative when shooting photographs or film, and create entire worlds using paper, modelling clay, lego or found objects. Explore nature in your area (or even the back of your cupboards) to find materials for your project.
Discover creative role models
Having a videographer or photographer to look up to can really help children to engage with learning. Fictional characters include Dora the Explorer, who has a trusty digital camera. There are also photojournalists in DC and Marvel comic books, including Peter Parker (Spider-Man), Vicki Vale (Batman), and Jimmy Olsen (Superman). One person who shows how to start filmmaking as a kid is the Hollywood director Steven Spielberg. Known for films like Jurassic Park and The BFG, Steven created his first film at just 12 years old, making at least another 15 throughout his teens. Check out this great blog with movies about kids making films.
Help children to find their niche
There are so many elements to photography and videography, and exploring these gives children the chance to shine. If they’re not as confident behind the camera, they could get involved with acting, composing music, designing sets, making props or writing scripts.
Maybe they enjoy learning about the technical side, including camera settings, developing photography, editing images or animation software. One of the benefits of attending workshops is that trained videographers and experts qualified to teach photography can identify your child’s strengths and help them to excel.
Choose the right photography equipment
If your child is serious about learning photography and videography, they will need the right tools. Durability and safety should be at the forefront, including making sure the camera is shockproof and waterproof.
You will also need to consider factors like size, weight and the number of buttons for very young children. And while the screen resolution doesn’t need to be professional-grade, being able to see their work clearly will help to keep young learners motivated. Older children may also prefer to access additional features like filters and special effects so they can edit their work.
Make a photo book
Encourage your child to keep their photographs in a journal or scrapbook so they can look back on their creations and see how far they have progressed. Let them choose how to organise them to develop their visual storytelling skills. They can get extra creative by adding notes, stickers or drawings. Older children could create a digital portfolio or a blog to showcase their videography and photography skills to friends and family.
You may also want to keep some mementos of the times you’ve shared learning together, so don’t forget to take some behind-the-scenes photographs and videos of your own.
Enter photography competitions
Keep an eye out for photography competitions for children. If your child is happy to enter, it could help them to challenge themself and feel recognised for their talents. Teachers at their school could also be open to the idea of competitions if the themes align with the National Curriculum. You could even host your own mini awards ceremonies, exhibitions and film screenings from the comfort of your own home.
Explore styles and techniques
Workshops are a great way to learn the processes behind photography and videography, but it’s equally important to expose your children to lots of different styles and techniques so they can form their own interpretations. This could be as simple as watching films, TV programmes, documentaries and music videos together and sharing your observations, including likes and dislikes. For example, do they enjoy black-and-white film, special effects or animation?
Free photography exhibitions at galleries like the National Portrait Gallery, Photographers’ Gallery, Tate Modern and Tate Britain also provide a fantastic insight into artists’ work. Many will include guided tours or QR codes to find out more.
Recreate their favourite photographs
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, as illustrated by the work of artists like Andy Warhol. If your child has a preference for a particular photographer or videographer, lean into this and help them to recreate a favourite scene of theirs. Talk about any creative differences they’ve made, and don’t be afraid to cast family members (or pets) in leading roles.
If they don’t yet have a favourite, it could be worth sharing your own, or showcasing age-appropriate works by famous photographers like Annie Liebovitz, Ansel Adams, Frans Lanting and David Bailey.
Want to learn more? For tailored videography and photography advice for your child, explore our creative experiences and workshops here.