Capturing our children's childhood is such a special thing to do, not only for our memories but for theirs too. I have such fond memories of all gathering together to look back through the photo albums of my childhood and children these days are incredibly lucky with quite how many different ways their childhood can be captured. Our parents generation only have a few photographs, our generation have more along with the odd video and the current generation of children we are bringing up have all the digital photos and videos they could ever dream of. But how can you capture your children's childhood in a slightly more creative way?
1) One Second a Day App - This is a new one to me this year and I absolutely love it already. The app is called 1SE and is completely free to download and use, although of course there are additional extra features you can sign up for if you want to. All you have to do is take a photo or film a short one second clip each day of the year, enter it into the right day on the app and they will put them together to create a video of your year. It's such a lovely way to look back on the year (you can start it any time or back track to the 1st January if you've taken enough videos/photos) and so easy too.
2) Weekly photographs in the same background - I've done this with all three of my children and it is such a special way to capture the first year of their life. It does take some remembering each week, but I tend to try and take the photo on the same day each week so that it is part of the routine. All you need is a blanket or large muslin cloth, lay it on the floor and put either bought milestone cards (these beautiful wooden ones are from Rosie Meringue (gifted)) or simply write your child's age on a piece of paper and place it next to them. Take their photo from above and I find it easiest to save them into their own folder on my computer, so you don't have to sieve through a whole year of photos to find them later. You can then order them to be printed as photos or polaroid style photographs, so that they can be displayed at home. We have some on a door in our house (just attached with washi tape) or you could pop them into a large frame with 52 windows, like this Moments Frame from inkifi.
3) Recreating your childhood photographs - These often float around social media and they are such a fun way to relive your own childhood with your children. Take a photograph from your childhood and recreate it with your children. You can do this with the clothes their wearing, positions they're standing in and/or locations they're at.
4) Silhouette photographs as they grow - These are some of the easiest, yet most effective, photographs to take. When I was pregnant with my second child I wrote a guide on how to create these silhouette photographs at home, along with a tutorial on how edit the photographs using PS Express. It's surprisingly easy and quick to set up and a way of capturing your children's childhood in a slightly different way.
5) Standing against a height chart - Children grow very quickly, so one way to capture quite how quickly is by standing next to a height chart every month. You'll be able to monitor how many centimetres they're growing throughout the year and it helps to teach older children about measuring too.
6) Laying next to a cuddly toy - This is another slightly different way to capture how your baby grows over time, as the cuddly toy becomes smaller and smaller compared to them. You could take this photo weekly or monthly depending on how often you think you'll remember. I find setting an alarm on my phone each week/month helps me to remember, as well as adding it to my to-do list.
6) Laying next to a cuddly toy - This is another slightly different way to capture how your baby grows over time, as the cuddly toy becomes smaller and smaller compared to them. You could take this photo weekly or monthly depending on how often you think you'll remember. I find setting an alarm on my phone each week/month helps me to remember, as well as adding it to my to-do list.
7) Get an illustration done of your family as you grow together - There are so many talented illustrators and artists that can create beautiful personalised pieces of art of your family. Usually all you have to do is send in a photo and then wait for the exciting delivery. It's such a special way to capture certain points in your family's life. If you want a slightly more affordable option then you could always ask your child/ren to draw your family for that real personal touch.
Which are your favourite ways to capture special moments and milestones?
Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)
Helen x
Which are your favourite ways to capture special moments and milestones?
Feel free to leave a comment - I love reading every single one :)
Helen x
Oh wow, fab ideas. I wish I had done the picture a week - as that would have been a lovely record to have. I love all of these so much!
ReplyDeleteSome lovely ideas here. My daughter is using the one second a day app with Lilah
ReplyDeleteI didn't know about the 1 second a day app. That sounds great.
ReplyDeleteI do some of the stated ideas above and I think those tios are great I should try the others too as well. thanks for this
ReplyDeleteThese are beautiful ideas! I’m going to download that app right now! We always take pictures at Mother’s Day in the same place and poses. They are some of my favourite pictures x
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