An increasing number of early childhood learning environments provide cameras for children to document their work, their friends, and their days in early childhood education. Photography is a tool and a strategy to implement that supports each child’s ability to learn about and connect with the world, themselves, and others.

Incorporating digital cameras or camera phones in the outdoor learning environment offers many of the same opportunities. In addition, children discover the aesthetic beauty the outdoors provides, their ability to capture and document wonder in nature, and the use of a powerful tool for communication. Photography in nature supports children’s deeper learning about the world around them, their own interests, and their competence in communicating with tools and resources.