Memory Making

Fish at the Virginia Beach Aquarium - photo taken by my then 6 year old!

One of our favorite things to do with the kids, whether we are on vacation, or just on a day trip, is to give them a turn with the camera.  This does several things. It makes them feel important; what they want to take a picture of matters - many times it is of their brother or sister making a funny face, but that is okay - it is a memory of our special trip.   This allows them to capture their memories and most favorite things.  It is also very cool.  My kids always end up taking pictures of things that I might not have noticed and easily overlooked. They can be silly, and out of focus, and have the camera pointed the "wrong" way, but hey, my pictures are too!  When the kid has the camera there is no right or wrong. This helps me, as a parent, to understand what is important to them and what their interests are.  Makes for excellent dinner table conversation too!

Light House Stairs, Virginia Beach - photo taken by my then 6 year old!

When we get back home from wherever we have been, the pictures just don't stop there!  It is important to print them out so the kids have them.  Get the kids involved with this step too!  We have done a few different things with some of our favorite vacation pictures.  There are so many great on-line sites that can help you out with this too!  We have taken favorite pictures and put them on mugs, Christmas ornaments and mouse pads.  We have also taken pictures from our entire trip and put together small flip books.  These books are sized just right for tiny hands.  You can pay an additional fee to get a coating on the pages so they can be wiped clean.  My little ones will carry around their special books and spend hours looking at the pictures and showing them to everyone they can find!  We have also used the pictures for school projects.  Last week my five year old at her Art Show at school.  Her project was to make a family flower.  We printed out some pictures from our recent trip to Hilton Head on computer paper.  She chose her favorite one, cut it out and glued it to the center of her flower.  It looked great!




New Bracelet

Silly TV Show

 Have a great day!