Choosing A Digital Camera For Younger Children

First of all, why choose a camera specifically designed for children? Well, to begin with, this type of camera is more robust than an adult model and can withstand all the knocks, bumps and drops that the average pre-school child is inevitably going to subject it to.
Picture quality is not usually that high with a camera for this age group, 2.

0 mega pixels is pretty standard - but don't reject a model on this basis.
Remember that you are not choosing a camera for yourself, this is for a little child and whatever camera you put into their hands, you are never going to get high quality images when the photographer cannot stay still for thirty seconds at a time! Large, easy to use buttons and controls are an absolute 'must', whatever model you choose.
It is essential that little fingers can manage to work everything without having to ask an adult for help every two minutes - this is also important for your own sanity! For the same reason, look for a model that has several automated features which will make your child's first attempts at photography as rewarding for him as possible, with some good images right from the get go.
Surprisingly, even the more inexpensive models available for this age group have video recording capabilities with audio.

They also have a good-sized memory for storing images (often up to around 256 MB) so children are not going to have to stop taking pictures because the memory is full and the camera needs to be downloaded.
Some of the higher-spec.

models also have an SD memory card slot which enables even more storage space. Because your child will want to show the images and/or videos he has created to family and friends, a really nice feature is the ability to connect to a TV so that everyone can enjoy watching a slide-show of images or a short video together.

Connection is usually via a USB cable.

Children are so easily distracted and batteries can quickly become depleted if the child leaves the camera on and goes off to do something else.
Many models have an automatic switch-off feature on a timer which switches off the camera, saving the batteries if no functions are used within a certain length of time.

For models that also include games, this is almost essential.

A dual-viewfinder is very useful, bearing in mind that younger children find it quite tricky to focus using only one eye. However taking pictures is made much easier when the camera has a large, LCD display screen so the child can check the picture they are taking, just by looking at the screen. The LCD screen in full color is also great for showing off the pictures they have already taken! A built-in flash to compensate for low light situations indoors is also very handy and saves the disappointment of having images that are too dark to see the subject clearly.

Of course this is less important if you feel that your child is likely to be doing most of his photography out-of-doors. A rotating lens which enables the child to take pictures of himself or include himself in a picture with friends or family is a great feature to have as well.

It seems to be a great source of fascination, particularly with younger children.

What should you expect to pay for a camera with all these great features? The answer, at under $70 is probably less than you were anticipating. You can often get top spec. models at budget model prices if you look for special offers and deals in store and online.