High-Tech Parent

It’s easy for you to make great home videos. There are all kinds of great ideas out there for you to experiment with. I found this great list of ideas for video projects on About.com courtesy of Gretchen Siegchrist. These are ideas anyone can use to make great videos!

Here are the top 3:
1. Events and Celebrations
2. Make a Movie Together
3. Everyday Routines

1. Events and Celebrations

If you are going anywhere, take the camera. For example, Father’s day is coming up, bring the camera along if you’re going out to dinner. Why not bring it to your kid’s birthday, or soccer practice? You’ll be glad that you did.

2. Make a Movie Together
This idea is easier as the children get older. I tried making a movie with my son last year and he just kept whining and saying, “Can we go home? I’m tired. It was a DISASTER my entire family was frustrated and we abandoned the project. HOWEVER, we still have the video and when we watch it we all laugh at how miserable we all looked on tape. So even failed movies are great!

3. Everyday Routines

I explained this concept in another post here

4. Family Recipes

This is a great way to pass on great recipes to your children. They may not be old enough to cook now, but when they’re older and out of the house, they can sit down and watch you prepare one of their favorite meals from their childhood. Even better, they might learn how to make it and serve it their own children.

5. Interviews

I like interviews. You can sit down with someone, turn the camera on, and just talk. I know we don’t like to mention “death”, but these videos are great for funeral videos. They have the ability to capture special moments with the people you care about. They are also good for kids. I did an interview style with my son when he was around 18 months. We watched it not too long ago and Mr. Clean and I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA what he was saying. I must have understood his baby talk at the time, because it seemed like we were having a good conversation!

6. Photomontages

When all else fails, make a photomontage. They are quick and easy, and when set to a great song they are a ton of fun. I read somewhere that less than half of all digital photos taken ever get printed. Entire childhoods are stuck in the computer. It takes 5 minutes $1 for a blank DVD to make a photomontage. If nothing else, if your computer crashed these photos are lost forever.

7. Transfer Old Family Videos to DVD

This is an absolute must. You have got to keep your home videos accessible. If you have an old box of tapes, transfer them to DVD. There are machines that can transfer them without a PC. Besides, what happens if the camera you made them with breaks? You will have to way to watch the tapes without paying a professional. I know it seems boring, but it can be done for a few hours every weekend. Again, you’ll be happy you did it.

9. Give the Kids the Camera

This work great with digital cameras too. It amazing to see the world from their perspective. Things look completely different 3′ down. Take precautions, for the younger set, give them an older camera that you don’t care if they drop because it’s gonna happen.