How do you solve a problem like social distancing with children? The question should really be how do you keep the kids busy? So how do you amuse the kids busy during school closures? I know a lot of people with school aged children are frantically searching for at home activities and boredom busters to entertain their little ones between home learning and submitting to YouTube amusement and Fortnight.
Social distancing with children is in itself a unique problem that I’m certainly no expert in. As I write this we are only one week into a lockdown and on our second week of home learning…is it the Easter holiday yet? At this point I don’t really feel the need to explain what social distancing is or what the current rules are as I’m sure they’ve been drilled into your head already. What is clear that as parents we have to deny our children of one of the most primal human instincts and that is too socialise with others. Yes there are plenty of apps and technological work arounds but we all know what our children really crave is face to face physical contact.
Have you ever been part of a virtual playdate with a 5 year old? It goes a bit like this
“Hi, how are you?”
“Good, how are you?’
“Good”.
“Bye then”
Social distancing with children is now the new normal so we have get used to it. What we can do in the meantime is to protect siblings from killing each other and somehow find a creative solution to soak up the boredom and save us from insanity.
As a photographer and a father of a 5 year old the answer seemed obvious to me. My daughter is already over daddy taking pictures of her and seems keen to take pictures herself. Like most children her age arts and crafts is one of her favourite activities so I knew I needed to create something that were quick and easy to do in-between are rather fully packed home schooling schedule.
A while ago I came up with the concept of a series of activities for children titled Creative photography for kids. It was one of those things that you put on the back burner till you “have time”. Now it seems that time is in abundance so it would be foolish not to explore the idea further.
The premise is simple, creative photography activities that children can enjoy.
The criteria for Creative Photography for Kids
1. Each activity needs to be quick and easy to do. 20 minutes seems to be an acceptable amount of time to hold their attention however there’s no reason why each activity can’t be stretched out longer if needed.
2. All you need is minimal equipment. Ideally each activity can be done just using a smart phone and objects around the house. I do have plenty of ideas which may involve some equipment but I will also try and find the cheapest version of free workaround.
3. Staying at home and social distancing with children must be taken into account. It is important that any of these activities can be done without having to leave the house or interacting with other people outside of the home.
4. Encouraging creativity is more important than aesthetics. I’m not so concerned about technical excellence. Each side is about exploring creativity and ideas, there is no right or wrong.
5. All the ideas are free and easy to access. The ideas and free and will be consumed via our social media profiles and blog.
6. Activities need to be suitable for all school aged children. Social distancing with children is hardest with school aged children so that’s who we are focusing on.
This idea is very much a work in progress and is far from being a finished polished concept. There will be things that don’t work and some that need more development. I’m certainly not the only person sharing creative ideas for kids so I’ll be sharing plenty of everyone else’s. If you find other interesting creative ideas for kids then please do share them with us.
How to find our Creative Photography Ideas for kids
All of our creative ideas for kids will be shared on our social media platforms and in the future we will no doubt be setting up dedicated profiles. So far we do have a dedicated Instagram profile
be sure to follow us and use the hashtag #creativephotographyforkids
If you are using Facebook then our Instagram feed will also be shared there too.
We have an Pinterest board already setup
Further reading on social distancing with children
Coronavirus: 5 tips for navigating children’s screen time during social distancing
6 social distancing tips for parents
It’s Time To Get Serious About Social Distancing. Here’s How
