The best digital camera for kids

If your budding photographer at, say, 7 or 8 years, I recommend what I did, and use it as a convenient excuse by updating your old snapshooter. But for pre-school children who can not be trusted not to leave their cameras on a regular basis, there are finally some decent options. I have three cameras suitable for children 3 years and older. I limited my choice of cameras, LCD viewfinders for digital cameras, that children who are still deprived seemed useless to me included. Each has its appeal, but I went with a clear favorite as well.

Fisher Price Kid-Tough Digital Camera

Pros: Very durable; waterproof; two-eye viewfinder
Cons: Hard-to-press shutter button; low-quality LCD; doesn't accept memory cards; low resolution; no strap Specs: 1.3 (interpolated) megapixels; 1.5-inch LCD; built-in flash; 64MB internal memory; requires 4 AAA batteries

The best digital camera for kids (or, how to keep grubby hands off your camera) this was the chunkiest feeling of the three cameras, but probably the most durable too. Though the outside packaging was quite different, the camera features and functions were virtually identical to the Crayola camera, down to the five buttons and the weak (though larger) LCD. As with the Crayola camera, the Fisher Price doesn't include any extra on-camera functions save for switching from high to low resolution (or should I say low to lower resolution). But unlike Crayola, Fisher Price doesn't include any fun software either--though truth be told, my kid testers weren't all that interested in the software that came with the Crayola camera. Image quality was barely adequate to the grown-up eye--not surprising given the interpolated 1.3 megapixel (0.3 megapixel actual) resolution--but again, I found the kids to be much gentler critics of image quality, so weigh that with the lower price of this camera.

Vtech Kidizoom Digital Camera

Pros: High-resolution 1.8-inch LCD; video capability; on-camera games; on-camera photo effects; playback on TV; two-eye viewfinder
Cons: Battery replacement requires opening two compartments; more-complicated buttons and interface Specs: 2.0 megapixels; 1.8-inch LCD; built-in flash; 16MB internal memory;

The Vtech is also the only camera of the three to include a video shooting mode. Of the three cameras, the Vtech had the best LCD screen by far, which made it far more usable as a real camera. As with the Fisher Price camera, the two-eye viewfinder was great for helping kids frame shots.

Crayola 2.1 MP Digital Camera

Pros: Lightweight and compact; neck strap
Cons: Small, low-quality LCD; no internal memory; single-eye viewfinder Specs: 2.1 megapixels; 1.3-inch LCD; built-in flash; accepts SD cards up to 2GB; requires 3 AAA batteries

The best digital camera for kids (or, how to keep grubby hands off your camera) I really liked the form factor of this little camera--it was the smallest and lightest of the three, but also seemed the least durable, though certainly sturdier than a normal digital camera.