Easy to use camera for an almost 3 year old

[cerberus]

We are taking my DD to Chef Mickey's for her birthday. She absolutely loves to take pictures. Is there an inexpensive camera out there that would be big enough and easy enough for her to take pictures with it? Anyone do this before? Maybe a disposable camera would work better than a digital?

 

[mccathy]

I got my son (turning 4 in Nov.) the Mickey Mouse digit. camera from the Disney Store. It was on clearance from $60 to $17. Now I see why. It takes forever to take a picture - so he has to stand still as well as whoever he's taking a picture of - for like 5 LONG seconds. I would suggest picking up a cheap film camera - and going with that.

 

[Tiffany_MommyOf3]

I got my son (turning 4 in Nov.) the Mickey Mouse digit. camera from the Disney Store. It was on clearance from $60 to $17. Now I see why. It takes forever to take a picture - so he has to stand still as well as whoever he's taking a picture of - for like 5 LONG seconds. I would suggest picking up a cheap film camera - and going with that.

We bougt this sae POS, except we paid full price before Christmas.. ugh. Luckily, my 5 yr old doesn't care and just likes to play with it LOL. My MIL also bought him a camera this past Christmas. It was the blue Fisher-Price one I think. They both suck! Now he just has a cheap "real" digital camera we found on sale for $70 at Target and we have just taught him to be gentle with it

 

[PrincessGracie]

They sell really cute Disney disposables at Walgreens! I know I've seen Winnie the Pooh and Princess.

 

[mom2faith]

Here is what I did for my 3 1/2 year old - I found a simple older model digital. It is the Kodak C7300. It is 3.2 MegaPixel, which is lots. Anyway, I found it for really cheap on a clearance table. But, my suggestion is to look on Kijiji or Craigslist for one.

The Kodak I got takes the same batteries and memory cards as my other camera, so I did not have to buy more of those, which saves money as well.

The reason I suggest this is:

1. My DD got the Little Tykes one for Christmas and just like PP, it is slow and takes horrible photos!!
2. I would not use film because with digital they can see the photo right away, and they can take 100's for no cost (film can be quite costly to develop, and you never know what the photos are going to look like until it is too late!!)

Anyway, you can easily find an older model that works for $40 to $50 and for a child it will be fabulous!!

Good luck and have fun!!

 

[sardanem]

I bought some Rite Aid disposable cameras for $1.99 each and then went to the dollar store and bought a bunch of princess stickers and put them all over the camera. I figured that even if I pay the $3.00 to develope the camera, it is still cheaper than buying her a digital camera and I don't have to worry if she loses it because I bought about 6 of them. My DD6 loves it. If my DS 13 feels like taking some pics, which I doubt, he can use the disposable too.

Lisa

 

[bumbershoot]

We got DS a V-Tech digital camera for Yule. It's really cute, takes fairly good pictures, and even has cute "videogames" like tic tac toe on it. He just loves it. And it's bright orange, so it's easy to spot.

Problem with a disposable is that it costs money to see how many blurry shots the child got. With a digital, you can get those blurry pictures gone and not pay for their printing.

 

[Camno's Mama]

My dad gave my older ds his old digital camera that was about five years old. It was a nice camera at the time...just a point and shoot though. You might want to ask around and see if someone has an old one sitting in a drawer somewhere! It's nice because it's more durable than some of the ones that are made for kids. It's one of the best gifts he's ever gotten, and it was a nice way to recycle!

 

[britfish]

we have the v tech kidizoom for my daughter and it is awesome. There are so many features to it (she only takes pics. at this point). There are funny frames, hats and moustaches to add on your pictures, and also some games like tic tac toe.
We got it at target and it came w/ a case. It was money well spent as she has dropped it several times and it still works. We have had the same batteries in it since Christmas and just now need to change them (not used a whole lot but here and there). We tried the Kodak camera but it was too far of a reach for her little fingers. DD loves her camera!

 

[cerberus]

Thanks eveyone for the great suggestions! I just dug out my old digitial and plan to let my DD try it out tomorrow to see if she can use it...if she can not I will try some of the other great suggestions!

 

[bartleby1]

Another vote for letting her use a cheap, point and shoot, real digital camera. My 3 yr old has no problems using our camera and she even learned how to use the zoom! Kids learn very quickly. We just make sure that she keeps the strap on her wrist at all times while taking pictures.

 

[MNFootballMommy]

I agree with a cheap point and shoot or disposables. DD3 used disposables on our last trip. Santa brought her the V-tech after that. While it is great, it is pretty big to haul around and I don't think the pictures are all that great. It is great for playing games on the plane, etc., but I don't want to haul it around the parks.

If you sign up for something like Snapfish or Shutterfly, the cost of developing the disposables really isn't too bad.