Best kids' camera 2024: recommended by parents

If your little one is always grabbing your phone and handing it back to you with dozens of blurry photos, the VTECH KidiZoom Duo FX Compact Camera is a great alternative to help them channel their creativity.

Specially designed for young kids (aged four and above) the new, improved Kidizoom camera has a brightly coloured design, large-sized buttons ideal for smaller hands and simple menu navigation. An ideal choice for parents’ peace of mind, it also has a rugged, shockproof shell that makes it the best kids' camera for even the clumsiest of preschoolers.

On the tech front, it has both front and rear-facing cameras, captures high-quality 8 megapixel photos and high-resolution video and even includes built-in, easy-to-use editing software to allow your child to add fun frames, filters and various effects. 

With over twenty built-in games and activities to explore, there’s also plenty to keep children entertained during travel or family holidays.

Although the eight-megapixel camera isn’t as high-definition as some of the cameras on our list, lots of Mumsnetters have found the Kidizoom to be a great option for children who are just getting started. We love that it has a 4X digital zoom to help children capture details in everyday life. Just don’t forget that you’ll need to buy an SD memory card and disposable batteries to keep it charged up.

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While not every child wants a toy in pink or blue, the ITSHINY Kids' Camera is a great budget-friendly contender for the title of best kids' camera.

Recommended for children aged three to 10, this kids’ camera is super lightweight and portable, with a sturdy, shockproof shell to protect against drops and falls, making it a great first camera for a young child.

Offering additional functionality to make it feel a little less like a toy, the ITSHINY Kids' Camera comes with an extra-large LCD screen for easy shooting, captures images in a range of quality levels from three to eight megapixels, has a nifty self-timer for photos with family and friends, and records high-quality HD 1080p video.

A positive for parents, it’s also fully chargeable by USB, so there’ll be no scrabbling around hunting for batteries.

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With kids getting more screen time than ever before, you might be thinking about photography options that don’t rely on yet another digital device. The best kids' camera for instant prints, the Instax Mini 12 prints a 54 × 86mm snap, providing a nice memento of the special moment to share with family and friends, pop in an album or display in their bedroom.

With a dedicated selfie setting and mirror to help capture close-ups, the Instax Mini 12 also offers automatic exposure and flash to automatically adjust the lighting, making sure no one gets lost in the gloom, especially when shooting the great outdoors.

This camera comes in a choice of five muted colours with two customisable shutter buttons to allow your child to really express their personality. It’s worth taking into account that, as the camera doesn’t come with film, you’ll need to purchase the required Instax Mini Film separately, which unfortunately doesn’t come cheap.

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Another popular instant camera choice for kids is the Polaroid Now, a Polaroid ‘point-and-shoot’ camera that captures sharp, vivid colours.

With an integrated auto-focus, flash and self-timer, this is the best kids' camera for capturing instant selfies and group photos of friends, even offering double exposure options to frame two moments within the same shot. Perfect for budding young photographers.

Available in seven different colours, the Polaroid 9030 is a bold, bright statement camera that is practical as well as fun but, as with any instant camera, the cost of film can considerably increase the running costs.

(It’s also worth knowing before you embarrass your child with a rendition of Outkast’s ‘Hey Ya!’ and ‘Shake it like a Polaroid picture’, that you no longer have to shake the images to help them dry.)

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If your child is ten and above and starting to take their photography a little more seriously, this more grown-up compact camera could be the ideal choice. Thanks to Dyanimic image stabiliser technology and the impressive 20.2-megapixel lens, you won’t get a memory card full of blurry photos. In fact, thanks to the 12 x optical zoom and ZoomPlus features, it can capture impressive detail, even from a distance.

While it’s quite a big investment for children, kids will love how easy it is to get started and the built-in Wi-Fi - allowing them to transfer photos to their phone or tablet with ease. 

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Tested by Mumsnet: Oaxis myFirst Camera 2 review

The Oaxis myFirst Camera 2 has a fun, block-like design that is not only super appealing to kids but can be fully customised with the accompanying stickers. USB-rechargeable, with an eight megapixel definition, full HD video and fun features such as preloaded photo templates, this is the best kids' camera for younger children looking for an all-rounder.

One of the best kids' cameras for holidays and travel, it also comes with a unique waterproof case, allowing it to be taken for a half-hour dip in the pool or sea at a depth of up to three metres.

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If you’re heading off on holiday and want your child to be able to capture some really unique shots, a waterproof action camera may be a good place to start, offering the ability to capture fun shots both in and out of the water without compromising on picture quality..

The AKASO V50 X Action Camera is the best kids' camera for just this; it's sturdy and durable with an easy-to-use touch screen (or it can be controlled using a remote-control wristband with buttons) and the ability for your child to set the view angle depending on what they’re doing.

Waterproof up to 40 metres in depth, the camera has a protective case and special diving mode features to filter the red light underwater. Plus, with a high 20 megapixels image quality even in low light, image stabilisation to avoid blurry pics, auto-focus and smile detectors, this camera captures 4K Ultra HD video with slow motion and time-lapse effects. Not only one of the best kids' cameras for durability, it's the best kids' camera alternative to the pricey GoPro brand.

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While capturing photos from the ground can be fun, taking aerial photos can be really exciting and quite literally allows your child to explore the world from a completely different view.

There are some stipulations about when and where you can use a drone outside, which you’ll need to be aware of, but the DEERC D20 Mini Drone for Kids is an affordable option that can capture high-quality, dramatic 720p video footage of the scenes below - not many of the best kids' cameras can offer the same!

Easy to use via either voice control or a one-key stop and start, this remote-control drone can recognise hand signals to take spectacular selfies and also do an impressive loop-the-loop for unique action shots.

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Does your child love to make videos? The VTech Kidizoom Studio is the best kids' camera for every budding YouTuber - featuring everything they need to bring their videos to life, including a HD video recorder, mini tripod, wrist strap and green screen.

Offering high-quality 720p HD video recording and a large 2.4-inch colour LCD screen for easy viewing, it also has a flip-up lens for recording in selfie mode, so your child can record a wide range of fun video footage.

With built-in, easy-to-use video editing, children can choose from 20 different backgrounds for their videos, including TV show sets, beaches and outer space scenes. They can even create illusions or green screen effects using the sheet included.

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These days, phone cameras are often as good as, if not better than, stand-alone cameras, making them sometimes the best kids' camera option for tweens and teens who may prefer a phone camera to a separate ‘digi’ cam. They also come with the added bonus of being able to link up with in-phone apps to add fun filters or upload straight to social media.

iPhones can be extremely expensive, especially if you opt for the latest model. The SE is a more affordable option for children and is both compact and slimline for small hands.

With a toughened screen and 5G capabilities, this phone features an impressive 12MP camera with a variety of photo styles including a portrait mode and 1080p video recording. This camera is packed with features to improve your child’s photography including image stabilisation, auto focus, red eye correction and burst mode.

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For artistic teens, a DSLR camera is the best kids' camera to take their photography from smartphone amateur to novice professional. However, deciding which one to choose is tricky. There are a lot out there, and many come with hefty price tags. Never fear; we're here to recommend the Canon EOS 2000D, which is perfect for beginners and has a price point significantly lower than its competitors (although not entirely insignificant).

The Canon EOS 2000D has a sizeable 24.1MP sensor, a 4+ processor and rapid auto-focus that will enable your teen to take quick, detailed photos day or night. It'll work for novice directors too, with its ability to shoot Full HD movies with a 1080p resolution.

Sharing content is simple. With built-in Wi-Fi and NFC, kids can connect to the Canon Camera app and upload photos when and wherever they wish. Oh, and the app lets them control the camera remotely for self-portraits and filming.

Easy to use, lightweight and jam-packed with assisting features, this is the best kids' camera to give your teen a chance to express themselves creatively and blow you away with the pictures it produces.

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Tested by Mumsnet: Photo Creator Instant Camera review 

If your child’s after a fun camera to use with their friends, they’ll love the Photo Creator Instant Camera. Not only does it come with over 20 fun frames and filters, this simple-to-use camera offers almost instant thermal printing, allowing them to print and share their images in seconds. 

While the produced images only come in black and white, there are four rolls of thermal paper included in the box (enough for over 250 photos) as well as a 4GB memory card for storing the results of their creativity. 

Children will love colouring in their images using the pens and stickers provided to bring their creations to life.

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