What Can Photography Add to My Program?

Have you ever watched children looking at pictures of themselves? It’s magic! There are many ways to use photographs with young children, as well as many reasons for using them. Photos of the children in your care will make them feel loved and allow children to see themselves in different roles and stages of discovery.

Use Photographs to Help Children Grow and Learn

Create teachable moments

Maybe you will see a child say goodbye to her parent without crying for the first time in weeks. Capture that smile. Show that child how her sad feeling went away. Maybe two children who normally challenge each other are getting along. Catch that moment, and when the film is processed, show the children involved.

Create a sense of security and belonging

Make a scrapbook or photo journal of the children. These books become part of the class and make the children feel valued. The children can help pick pictures to go in the book and words to add to the pictures. Finding their photo will make them happy. Seeing themselves with their friends will make them feel part of the group. Seeing themselves with their caregivers will make them feel good about that relationship.

Support your classroom activities

Attach photos of the children, along with their names, to the cleanup chart. Label the toy shelves with a photograph and the name of toy. Display photos of the children with those who pick them up by the pickup door. When the children arrive, they can put their photo on the “here” bulletin board. At the next meeting time the children can see who is here and who is not.

Use Photographs to Teach

Children will learn to make a connection between photos and written words. Many children who are not yet speaking can use photos to share their message. Use photos to make books about the children and their interests. Leave a tray of photos for the children to look through until they’ve found what they want to put in their book. Copy photos of classmates so children can add pictures of their friends or put their friend’s picture on an envelope.

Encourage in-depth study

Maybe one of the children is really interested in shadows or bugs. Photographing samples will help her explore her interest. Let the children take control of the camera (as long as it’s not really expensive!).

Use Photographs to Connect with Families

Build bridges between home and child care. Let families borrow the class albums or journals. The journals could contain family photos. Using photos is a helpful tool in putting home and child care together.

Share the day's exciting events with families

Display your photos with captions around your room. Maybe you didn’t get to your planned leaf painting activity today because the road crew was repairing the road right in front of your center and the children wanted to watch. Catch their interest. Photograph the road crew and the play that followed (turning chairs into cars, etc.). Let the photos and words tell your families how exciting your day was. Place photos at a level where the children can see them. They will love to revisit the experience.

What Will I Need to Get Started?

Using photographs in your center or family child care can be expensive as well as exciting. Having a camera, buying the film, and paying for developing are important costs to consider. To avoid getting carried away with too many rolls of film, think ahead about the most important times to take photos. You could also reduce costs by asking families to donate film and contribute to the cost of development.

Perhaps you’re thinking about buying a digital camera. While digital cameras can be expensive, they can save you money in the long run. There are several advantages to digital cameras, and the best is that you’ll never have to buy film or pay for processing again. Plus, you and the children can see the pictures as soon as you’ve taken them, and you can delete the ones you don’t want. Storing and sharing pictures can also be easier, and the pictures won’t deteriorate over time. Talk to the parents of the children in your care to see who might be interested and experienced with digital photography and who has a scanner or printer. The families involved in your program could possibly donate some of this.

But I Don’t Know Anything About Taking Pictures!

You don’t need to know a lot about photography to get started. Disposable and automatic cameras can make photography fun and easy. You can also pick up some great picture-taking tips on the film box, at your local developing center, or at your local library. Here are some suggestions for improving your picture taking:

• Make use of natural lighting.
• Use your flash in low-light areas.
• Open curtains or shades to add to natural light.
• Your film should be at least 200 speed if using a 35mm camera.

Here is a list of supplies you will need:

1. Consent forms
2. Camera or digital camera
3. Film or color printer and photo paper
4. Photo books (homemade or store-bought)
5. Display panels or bulletin boards (make displays attractive by mounting photographs on paper and adding text of what the children were saying or doing)

Practical and Creative Uses for Photographs

Here are some ideas for using photos in your child care home:

• Make nametags
• Labeling toy shelves, cubbies, etc.
• Using with charts, such as a job chart
• Make a class group photo
• Use for parent mailboxes
• Make class scrapbooks or photo albums (showing what happens at school, special events, special visitors, etc.)
• Identifying families with photographs (“This is Jenny’s family”)
• Show children engaged in activities and exploration
• Make picture books for children who aren’t yet speaking
• Make books using photos of children and their interests
• Photograph special interests for in-depth study (example: shadows)
• Create individual photo books children can take home and share with families
• Use photos to create a sense of time ("We did that last week." "This happened yesterday.")
  

Summary

Once you have the supplies you need to take photographs in your child care program, the ways to use them are many. Using photos with young children is an exciting way to help them learn. Pictures allow children to see themselves and those around them--to see their own abilities, what they have accomplished, what they are feeling, how they got there, and what they might do next.

Assignments

1. You and the children planned to make “no-bake cookies.” You were busy snapping pictures of the children washing hands, measuring the ingredients, and rolling the cookies into balls. Everyone enjoyed sitting at the table and eating the cookies for snack time. Using the photographs from this activity, describe how you will use them to help the children with their language skills.
   
   
2. What supplies do you need to get started taking pictures?
   
   
3. Once you have the supplies you need to take photographs in your child care, tell us about three practical or creative ways you will use the pictures.
   
   
4. Tell us about one way you can use photographs of the children in your program to connect with families.
   
   
5. For several days, you’ve been taking pictures of the children building with blocks. The blocks are of many sizes, shapes, and colors. Working together each day, they have added more and more blocks and made roads, bridges, and buildings. Your last picture is of all the children proudly standing together holding a sign that says, “Our Town.” How will you use the pictures of this experience to help the children learn math skills? To learn social skills?