5 Fun Photography Apps for Kids

How do your kids see the world around them? Give them a camera and find out! After all, as the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words. If your kiddo is constantly trying to steal your phone to snap artistic photos of the family dog or capture shots of colourful flowers in the garden, encourage their creativity with these fun apps that will help build their blossoming photography skills.

If your kids need a little inspiration or a few pointers, be sure to check out the Snapshots playlist on the Kids’ CBC YouTube channel. Your budding photographer can even take part in special Snapshots photo challenges over on KidsCBC2.ca! 

1. SnapQuest

Send your shutterbug on a photo scavenger hunt with SnapQuest, a free app designed for kids ages 6 to 8. The app features 12 “quests,” each with a different theme or location. Within each quest your child will find a list of items to photograph in order to complete their hunt. For example, the nature quest will have kids looking for a cloud, an animal, and “something smooth,” among other things. The app is refreshingly simple—with no complicated menus or flashy bells and whistles kids can focus on honing their point-and-snap skills. 


Available for iOS (Free)
In-app purchases: No
Social sharing option: No

2. Typic Kids

This colourful app lets kids play around with basic photo editing features like cropping and adding filters, in addition to offering fun extras like frames, text and stickers. It’s designed for kids ages 9 to 11 and is easy to navigate with the swipe of a finger. Once kids are done editing their photo, they’ll be prompted to get an adult’s help to answer a mathematical equation before they can save or share their photo via email or social channels.

Available for iOS ($4) 
In-app purchases: No
Social sharing option: Yes*

3. Pic Collage Kids

Gone are the days of magazines, glue sticks and bristol board for creating photo collages. Now kids can use the junior version of the popular Pic Collage app to put together cool collages with just a few taps on their smartphone screen. With colourful backgrounds, bright stickers and plenty of layouts to choose from, this app is sure to be a big hit. One caveat for parents — the app includes a search function to import photos from around the web, as well as an option to “print and ship” photo creations. And while the app doesn’t post directly to social channels like Facebook or Instagram, there is a “copy link” feature that will let kids share their work using a URL. Be sure to have a discussion about safe online habits before downloading this one.

Available for iOS (Free!) *Original Pic Collage also available for Android
In-app purchases: Yes (limited)
Social sharing option: Yes

4. Little Moments by Fat Mum Slim

Older kids who are fans of the photo challenges on Snapshots will love this free app that offers a new photo prompt and instruction every day of the month. For example, the prompt “circle” will have kids thinking about “the wheels on a bus, the clock on a wall… anything round.” It’s a great way to help your kids look more closely at their surroundings, and interpret each prompt in their own creative way. The app also lets kids add filters, quotes and doodles to their photos.

Available for iOS (Free!) 
In-app purchases: Yes
Social sharing option: Yes

5. Pixlr

This awesome app will help your aspiring photographer take their snapshots to the next level by introducing them to more advanced editing tools like cropping, sharpening, blurring and adjusting exposure. There are also plenty of eye-catching filters, borders, stickers and fonts for to explore, along with a double exposure feature that is all kinds of cool. This one is a must-try — you’ll want to use it, too!

Available for iOS and Android (Free!)
In-app purchases: No
Social sharing option: Yes