One hot July afternoon, when Genna was 2 years old, I put her down for a nap and then snuck all her favorite stuffed animals out to the back yard. I set them up in 10 little scenes. The cows played soccer against the sheep (with a Border Collie as referee). The naughty bunnies got into the garden. Ching, the siamese cat, stalked a toad in a toad house. CopyCat, the orange tabby finally learned to use the potty.

I chuckled all the way as I set up the scenes. Finally, I had found a use for the dozens of stuffed animals in our house! Before Genna woke up I snapped a picture of each scene.

Of course, Genna was only 2 at the time, so when she saw all her animals having fun in the backyard, it seemed perfectly natural to her. I suspect older children would find the dioramas more surprising. We walked around the yard and interacted with each scene. We had tea with the teddy bears and helped Oscar take a bath in the birdbath. It was a lovely, quiet afternoon.

Later, I had two of each photo printed and laminated in plastic. We used these as a memory game. Not only did the game help Genna with cognitive and motor skills, but each time we played, we remembered the afternoon with the animals outside.

Older children might have fun setting up their own animal scenes and even taking the pictures. My picture book “A Talent for Quiet” has simple tips for kids to take better pictures. Here are a few examples:

-Zoom in on the subject of your picture to get rid of background clutter.

1. -Try forcing your flash to fire, even in bright sunlight to eliminate harsh shadows.
   

Check out the Photo Gallery for the complete album of our Animal Memory Game.