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Kids love to take pictures, but many parents are leery of letting young children use the family's expensive camera equipment. To safely encourage your child's exploration of photography, why not buy them a camera of their own? Here are some good, relatively low-cost options.

CAMERAS JUST FOR KIDS

A number of toy companies have created easy-use digital cameras just for kids. Some are tie-in products for popular movie or TV characters; others are focused (pardon the pun) more on functionality. These cameras are ideal for little shutterbugs between 3 and 7 years old.

1) VTech Kidizoom Digital Camera ($69.99), ages 3-8. Available in bright orange and yellow, or blue and silver, the VTech Kidizoom camera features sturdy construction and large rubber side bumpers that are easy for small hands to grip. The 16MB internal memory can store 120 still photos or 5 minutes of video, and there is an SD memory card slot if parents want to up-grade for a particularly enthusiastic photographer. The camera has large-button controls for little fingers, a 1.8 inch viewing screen, dual viewfinder and connector cables to hook-up to either a PC or a TV. One issue: the camera has only .3 megapixels resolution, so the pictures are unlikely to be very sharp. The included editing software allows kids to crop, distort, or add funny frames to their still shots. As an added bonus, the camera includes 3 preschool-appropriate games, so kids can be entertained between photo opportunities!

2) Fisher Price Kid Tough Digital Camera ($69.99). This camera is more appropriate for the younger crowd, ages 3-6. It's available in pink or blue. The controls are large and even simpler than those on the VTech, and the body of the camera is somewhat less bulky. The Kid Tough holds only about 60 pictures on its 8 MB internal memory, but can be upgraded with an SD card no higher than 1 GB. The 1.3 megapixel resolution is much better than the VTech's, fine for 3x5 or 4x6 prints of the young artist's work. The camera's viewing screen is a bit smaller than the VTech's, at 1.6 inches, but it also features dual view finders. A lithium battery and USB port cord are included; photo editing software is not.

3) Nickelodeon SpongeBob SquarePants 300K Pixel Digital Camera ($19.99). This camera is the silliest thing I've ever seen, blocky and yellow, and the lens is one of SpongeBob's blue eyes (complete with lashes). It's much more of a toy than a real camera, suited to the 3 or 4 year-old set. There is no viewing screen,

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