An introduction to photography via mobile devices, as they all come equipped with built-in cameras, is one of the most accessible forms of creative expression. Here are five apps that are suited to Elementary school students and younger.
Crayola Lights, Camera, Color! (Free)
Crayola Lights, Camera, Color offers kids an ever-engaging experience where they can instantly change any picture into an interactive coloring experience! The app offers fun stamps that allow kids to express creativity, make a picture into something completely different or just add a little pizzazz. The app also offers a brief tutorial that sets kids up to use the app successfully with little to no direction from adults.
(Curated by Chris Atkinson)
FrameMagic7 ($0.99)
Students can design image collections or collages around a theme and creatively share and publish them. There are multiple frames from which to choose as students use existing photos or take new photos and combine them into a framed collage. Users can also add text to the photos. These can then easily be shared or exported, providing the opportunity to publish them to the world or just to friends. Within an educational context, students can be assigned a topic or a concept that is related to their studies. They then take photos that visually represent that topic or concept and combine them into one framed image collection or collage.
(Curated by Julene Reed)
Comic Life ($4.99)
Comic Life allows kids to creatively express ideas and tell stories. It comes with several templates that allow kids to just jump right in and start creating. Note: Kids need a basic ability to read and write to successfully use this app independently. Comic Life allows any kid to become a masterful comic book creator. It’s fun and easy to use, with many pre-created templates that kids will enjoy exploring and editing. This app can be used to create digital book reports and stories, and truly allows kids to tap into higher order thinking at a creative level. Once a student is finished, the final product can be saved and then sent either via email or social media.
(Curated by Chris Atkinson)
Kidomatic Camera (Free)
Kidomatic allows kids to quickly and easily create a fun picture. This app is perfect for those kid-friendly profile pictures that kids may need for a blog or digital portfolio. The app reinforces creativity, and allows kids to artistically adapt pictures with some pizzazz and style. Upon opening Kidomatic, you can choose from various packages on an iBooks-type shelf — the free one included is the Kidomatic package. Select Kidomatic, and the back camera is turned on and is large and easy for a kid to aim and snap a pic.
(Curated by Chris Atkinson)
Photogene (Free)
This app includes basic photo editing tools as well as many fun and fanciful effects, collages and other creative features. Through photo editing with this app, students are exposed to basic editing vocabulary and techniques. They can take their original photos and deepen and enhance the images. There are great opportunities for observation and a type of digital literacy when using this app.
(Curated by Julene Reed)
(This content was originally posted at appoLearning.com.)