So I ran across something cool from one of my contacts on Flickr. -gadgetgirl- has come up with a great idea to get your child interested in photography from a young age. She’s given her almost 3-year-old daughter a camera and sent her off shooting. But the added joy is that she’s set her adorable little daughter up with her own Flickr account to share the world as she sees it with others, from shots of her abstract watercolors to playground fun. But from her profile I found out: “my favorite photos are those that are out of focus. i also like experimenting with composition by placing my finger in front of the lens. oh, and i also like to point my camera at the sun.”

I absolutely love this idea! Let’s not just shoot the kids, let’s get them shooting as well. Let’s get them excited about photography and art at a young age. Get them comfortable lugging their camera around with them everywhere they go.

And as I started looking around on Flickr, I realized more people had this idea than I imagined. I stumbled across the group Kids on Assignment that takes this whole idea one step further. Don’t just give your kid a camera and expect her to take pictures. Instead, this group posts themes each month to get kids excited and give them direction.

I love the idea that as soon as Sophia gets out of her sucking and chewing on everything phase, we’ll get her a camera to document her days.

This gives a whole new meaning to “through the eyes of a child…”