Family, Mind, Nutrition, Photography

Ideas for Tweens During Summer Vacation

Posted by Grandma Grace on

Wondering what to do with your tween during Summer vacation?  Here are a few ideas for kids with different interests.

For your reader

Reading List for Tweens  from Edie’s Blog, Living in Graceheartmindsoulstrength-reader-bw

  • • The Harry Potter series (I’ve written about the series before here, but these are some of my favorite books in the world)

Now, that’s my starting list, but feel free to leave your recommendations in the comments.  My girls read lots of books (mostly popular fiction) besides these, but these are the ones that I have read or plan on reading aloud with them.  These are timeless stories that adults love as much as kids.  And with classics, everyone is getting an education in expert sentence structure and grammar.  For the WIN!

Edited to Add:  Here’s the list I’ll be working on today, compiled by the stellar lifeingrace readers:  (I have linked to those that have blogs!)

Read more at http://www.lifeingraceblog.com/2014/06/summer-reading-tweens-parents/#wRAAWD8gr8vxpx4l.99

You might also like: 

Read Books and Live Well, part 1 

Read Books and Live Well, part 2 

02: The Life You Love Manifesto|A Life of Learning [Podcast] 

I would add;

“Little House on the Prairie” series by Laura Ingels Wilder

“So Young to Die,” a story set in World War II

Patricia St. John books, especially “Treasures in the Snow”

Activities for a tween and older who is interested in Photography

Portrait Light

The following is a list of shots to learn to see how light falls on a face.  This is actually a lot of work and could be spread out over a couple of days if the photographer is young.  Computer software that allows you to compare multiple shots is really helpful for this assignment, but not required.

Take a head and shoulders shot of subject:

~   With the sun behind them and enough light on their face to illuminate it.  You will need to use  flash or a reflective surface to throw light into the face.  Flash on a low setting is best if your camera allows manual control of flash.

Notice the halo the sun makes shining on the hair.  Notice the haziness in the background.  What mood does this evoke?

~   In open shade = under an overhang facing open sky

Notice the flat, even lighting on the face.  Look for catch lights in the eyes.  Take shots from above subject with her looking up at the camera.  Take some with camera at eye level and some from lower angle looking up at her face from below.  What mood does this light express?

~   At noon in bright sun

Notice the hard lines between the bright and dark areas of the face.  See the hot spots on the nose, forehead, head, ears.  Look at the dark circles under the eyes, nose, lips.  Notice how harsh and unflattering the light is.  Are the eyes squinting almost shut?  What mood does this bring to mind?

~   Indoors with the subject facing a window and your back to the window.

window-babeExperiment with different distances from the window and with windows facing different directions at different times of day.  Hint:  Make sure at least one window faces north.  Notice the even, gentle light and catch lights in the eyes.

~   Indoors with subject perpendicular to the window.

Experiment with different distances from the window and with different windows at different times of day.  Do one split lighting pattern- one side of face lit by window and other side in shadow with the nose dividing the two.  Do one broad side lighting- light falling on the side of the face closest to the camera.  Make one image short lighting- the side of the face closest to the camera in shadow.  Which makes the face look narrower?  Which makes face look wider?  Which is moodier and dramatic?

Real Life Situations for kids to think about:

Friends want you to grab a quick shot of them.  They are standing in very bright light outside.  What do you do?

Your mom’s friend is visiting with her baby.  Where could you ask them to sit to get soft light?

You want to remember everyday things your family does.  Your dad is mowing the lawn.  How could you get the best photo of him without asking him to stop and pose?

You have a younger boy cousin you’d like to photograph.  How could you get him to the area with the best light and not ‘cheese’ the camera?

You see a beautiful rose in your garden.  What time of day would be the best time to photograph it?

Answers

Ask your friends to sit on your porch or under a tree.  Make sure they are facing open sky just inside the line where the sunlight meets the shade.

Ask the mom to hold her baby near a north facing window in your house, or a west facing window in the morning, or an east facing window in the afternoon.  They can face the window and you stand with your back to the window or you can ask them to stand perpendicular to the window with mom’s shoulder facing the window.  You can move them closer or farther from the window to get soft light.

You could wait till the sun is behind your dad, or until he’s in the shady part of the yard.

You could tell your cousin there’s a fun place to play the drums.  Then lead him to a place with good light and let him drum on a railing, a stool, or a step.  You might have to make a funny noise to get him to look up from his drumming.  (From Laura Siebert’s Get Real 2 book on photographing children.)

Whatever time the rose is just inside the line of shade near sunlight or when the sun is behind the rose.

How to Declutter a Portrait

These assigned shots are designed to raise awareness of ‘stuff’ in the background of a people photo that detracts and distracts.

Take a full-length shot of a person in a room with clutter behind them such as a kitchen counter, TV or computer, toys, or even other people.

Now de-clutter the background by moving the person to a place with a simple background like a plain wall or curtains and shooting from the waist up.  Shoot them sitting in a high-backed chair, or let them recline on a sofa so that the furniture is their background.

Now de-clutter by moving yourself.  Shoot them in the same location as the clutter photo but use the floor as a background by seating them on the floor and standing above them and including only the upper part of their body, or having them lie down.  Or move to a different side of your subject where there is a background that isn’t ‘busy’.

Now de-clutter by moving your camera settings.  Change your aperture to f4, if possible, or Portrait Mode.  (Or choose the lowest number available on your camera)  Now move your subject as far from the clutter as possible and closer to your camera.  Bring the person close enough to fill the frame with their head and shoulders.  Now the background that does show should be blurry and not distracting.

Check for objects that intersect your subject before pressing that shutter!  Objects in the image that run into your subject detract from the main attraction- your loved one.  A floor lamp growing out of a person’s head is weird.  Make it your habit to run your eye around the head of your subject.  Is there anything in the background running thru the head?

If shooting outdoors, check where the horizon intersects your subject. Position yourself or your subject so that the horizon doesn’t go thru a person’s head.  It’s ok if the horizon line goes thru your subject’s shoulders, but even better is if the horizon is above the body altogether.

If shooting indoors, check to make sure prominent horizontal lines aren’t cutting thru heads.  Windowsills, window grids, counters, and tables are common distracting lines thru children’s heads.  Also, avoid strong vertical lines bisecting people.  White woodwork, windows, and door frames growing out of heads is distracting.  When there are strong vertical or horizontal lines in an image, try not to tilt them.  The viewer will unconsciously feel off balance when lines that should be straight aren’t.

For kids interested in cooking (or who just want to eat!)

For younger kids:

Allow them to help in the kitchen.  Yes, they will wipe out your neat kitchen.  Have them clean up as best they can, but don’t scold them for the mess.  When they’re out of sight, clean it to your standards.

Tasks for the young:

Make celery filled with peanut butter or cream cheese.  This will be messy and sloppy, but they will enjoy the activity and the eating.

They can arrange fruit or vegetables on a pretty plate after you slice them, assemble a sandwich after you put the condiment on, lay out (and also clear off after a meal) napkins and silverware, add ingredients you’ve measured, stir, get ingredients out of the fridge, watch you as you explain about; measuring cups and spoons, what each ingredient does for the final product, how to be safe near knives and hot surfaces, why it’s important to wash hands, etc.

DSC_7966ed-copyOlder kids who can safely operate the stove can cook:

No Bakes with reduced sugar.

Hard boiled eggs.  Bring water to boil.  Gently place eggs in boiling water.  Continue to boil exactly 12 minutes.  Pour off the hot water.  Place eggs in very cold water.  When cool, peel or store in the fridge.

Have them list their favorite meals.

Which ones could they make?  Let them make a grocery shopping list with needed ingredients.  Have them go to the store with you and find their ingredients.  Have them look up recipes online if you don’t have a favorite recipe.  Let them cook at least one part of their favorite meal.

Making it pretty.

Depending on age, allow children to make the table pretty by arranging flowers and leaves from the yard (for those interested, they could look up flower arranging for kids on-line), or by arranging fruit, napkins, placemats, favorite dishes, even a battery operated candle to make it feel even more special.  Let them use their imaginations.  Everything may not match, but they will enjoy being creative, and they will learn that just a little extra effort brings beauty to the table.

For your artistic tween

A fun art project suitable for 9 years old and up:

learn how to paint watercolor letters

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