Fun Photo Journals for Kids!

Do your children enjoy taking photos either with a traditional camera, a kid-friendly camera, or perhaps with your cell phone camera?

Both Big Bro & Little Bro love to take photos!

Originally, we were hoping to host and Olympics-themed play date within the next few days with some of our friends. This would have given both boys many opportunities to snap some photos of themselves and their friends during all of the Olympics themed fun.
However, Both Big Bro & Little Bro have had ear infections and strep so those plans had to get tossed out the window for now.

Well, since our Olympics themed fun day with friends had to be scrapped, I gave some more thought and came up with a low key way to still have some interactive Olympic fun for two sick boys.
We all have enjoyed watching the Olympics and learning about Olympic history, but then, in search of a more interactive experience, we are starting an ongoing project a little earlier than what we originally planned to start this fall:
Photo Journals (but not just any Photo Journals...Photo Journals with monthly themes, starting off with an Olympics theme)!

When we went out to get prescriptions filled, happened to come across a very cute plate at Target.
This adorable appetizer plate looks like an old-fashioned camera.
We will not be using it to hold snacks, but rather, we are going to use this cute camera shaped plate to hold writing prompts for each theme that we cover this year!
The plate was on sale at our local Target for $1.54 so it is a very cost-effective activity for both homeschooling families and for a classroom, in case anyone else is interested in doing this with their children...

How cute is this plate??? Just the perfect size for holding Photo Journal writing prompts!

Well, made up Photo Journal Command Cards / Writing Prompts and then, placed them into a plastic envelope for each theme.

Our themes for this year include:

Olympics

Animals of the World
Garden Goodies

Outdoor Play

Scientific Discoveries

Lego Creations

Fun with Family & Friends

Puppets & Plays

Scavenger Hunts

Colorful Curiosities 

Inspiring People  

Terrific Travels

The boys can choose writing prompts from the plate to hopefully inspire them with both their photos and their writing.
As they complete the command card, they will get to glue the command card / writing prompt, photos, drawing, and writing into their Photo Journals. 

Had not originally planned to include the Olympics in the Photo Journal themes, but then, it dawned on me that they would enjoy the Olympics all the more if they were actively involved in them by taking photos and by doing writing activities.

Here are the photos of the boys that we took for their Photo Journal covers:

Smile!

Say Cheese!

Here are some sample photos of Little Bro doing what he will do to go with the Animals of the World theme this year:

Little Bro's photo of their pet bunnies, Hop and Cuddles.

Little Bro's drawing of his bunny, Hop, based on his photo of their bunnies. He has not glued it into his Photo Journal yet, nor has he done the writing that will go with these prompts.Decided that it will be best for them to take their photos, then, draw and do the writing on separate sheets of paper, then,  have them glue their completed work into their Photo Journals. Think that this will help them to think about how they want to arrange their work in their Photo Journals. Also should help to reduce frustrations so that if they make a mistake, they can redo their artwork or their writing before it is permanently added.

Here is the photo of Big Bro's Photo Journal cover:

To create their Photo Journal covers, the boys took photos of each other and then, we printed them full size onto printer paper.The boys wrote My Photo Journal as well as their names on their covers. Then, the boys placed their photos on the cover of their composition notebooks. They used packaging tape to secure their photos to the cover of their notebooks.This photo shows Big Bro's cover sans his name...

Big Bro's photo to go with his Olympics themed writing prompt...

Big Bro working on his drawing to go with his photo...he will complete his drawing to go with his photo, then, he will do the writing and then, he will glue his writing prompt, his photo, his drawing, and his writing into his Photo Journal...

Do you do Photo Journals with your children?
If you do and you would like to share, please feel free to leave a comment and a link.
If you borrow this Fun Photo Journals idea and make it your own and blog about it, hope that you will please share that you got this idea from Sunrise Learning Lab! 
If you are interested in what we are using as our monthly Fun Photo Journal writing prompts, please leave a comment and I will share with you what I have created for my boys.