This Christmas photography scavenger hunt is a fun activity for your child or for their grown-ups(!) to do during this Christmas holiday. With this photo scavenger hunt, your child(ren) can find things and scenes that represent this time of year.
When taking photographs, you start to look at things around you differently and in a more mindful way. It can be wonderful to pay attention throughout the day and to seek out the prompts as you go about your usual routine. To capture these small and beautiful moments and things in a photograph.
These prompts can also be used to start conversations with your child. Or you can ponder about them yourself and find out more about what is important to you during this time of year and in your family traditions. What comes to your mind or your child’s mind when reading these prompts?
The photography scavenger hunt will definitely be a fun activity for the children and will let them use their free time creatively this holiday. It can also help you, their grown-up, to create meaningful photos of the festive season. To look at what is around you with some more care. And above all, if you do this with your child, it can be a fabulous, fun bonding experience for you both.
When using your mobile phone to take photos, then do read these mobile photography tips.
Why Photography Makes a Great Activity for Children
When children look through a camera, even a phone, they start to see the world differently. They slow down, notice details, and make decisions about what matters. A Christmas scavenger hunt combines that natural curiosity with the magic of the festive season, and the photographs they make become part of your family’s Christmas story.
It’s also a wonderful way to spend time together, something to do on a rainy December afternoon, a quiet Boxing Day morning, or any of the long holiday days that need filling with something meaningful.
And if you’re looking for more photography activities to do with your children over the holidays, I have a free photography workbook for kids you can download here. It includes 9 photography activities, from painting with light, making your own camera obscura, to creating a stop motion film.
And if you’re looking for a whole calendar of festive family activities to carry you through December, the advent calendar for family fun is free to download too.
What to Do With Your Photographs Afterwards
Once you and your children have worked through the prompts, you’ll have a collection of images that capture Christmas through their eyes. Print a few of the best ones and add them to a family album. Share them with grandparents. Or keep them somewhere you can look back on in years to come — because what seems like a simple activity now becomes a genuine record of how this Christmas felt.
For ideas on what to do with all your family photographs, I have a blog post with 11 craft ideas for your kids to make with your family photos, including a fun Christmas photo craft.
Do share your creations with me on Instagram of Facebook and tag me with @portrayyourstory in your posts or stories. I would love to cheer you all on and get this little peek into your wonderful world.
Want Your Whole Family in the Christmas Photographs?
The scavenger hunt is wonderful for getting children behind the camera. But if you’d love proper Christmas photographs with everyone in them — including you — that’s where a Christmas mini session comes in.
I offer relaxed, documentary-style Christmas mini sessions in South-East London each December. No matching outfits, no forced smiles, no sitting on Santa’s knee. Just your family in December — decorating the tree, baking together, doing whatever Christmas looks like in your home — with someone there to capture it honestly.
