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As much as I love traveling with my children, it can be draining on our entire family at times. So I’m always looking for new tips and tricks to try out when we travel. Luckily for me, Good Housekeeping recently partnered with the Family Travel Association and NYU Tisch Center of Hospitality on the 2025 US Family Travel Survey, where we polled 1,600 Good Housekeeping readers to learn more about current travel trends.
We also included questions about the travel hacks that help families on the go. One response immediately caught my attention: “Give your kid a cheap digital camera so they can record memories from their perspective.” It seemed so obvious, so why hadn’t I tried it before?
Kids Selfie Camera
Amazon
$35.99 at amazon.com
Shortly after, we headed out on a cruise aboard the Disney Destiny, followed by a quick trip to Walt Disney World. It felt like the perfect opportunity to try this idea. I turned to Amazon for an inexpensive, kid-friendly camera for my 7-year-old daughter and landed on the Makolle Selfie Camera. It comes in a variety of colors, but hers is pink with a little cat decoration around the lens. There’s also a flip camera so she can take selfies with it. I never expected her—or me—to love it as much as we did.
Courtesy of Lexie Sachs
She carried it with her all the time and snapped photos and videos of everything that caught her interest. This has now become one of my favorite parenting products. Here’s why.
She stayed engaged during travel
She actually seemed to enjoy our vacation more with the camera in hand. She paid closer attention to her surroundings, soaking in details and looking for moments she wanted to capture.
Courtesy of Lexie Sachs
It was a great distraction when we needed it
The camera kept her entertained during the less exciting parts of travel, like waiting in lines or getting from place to place. She’d scroll through her photos during downtime, and the built-in games were a bonus for keeping boredom at bay.
She captured her own memories
As a parent with an iPhone, I take tons of photos, but they’re always from my point of view. Giving her the freedom to take pictures of what she found meaningful was a completely different experience. Since coming home, she still goes back to her camera to relive those moments.
Courtesy of Lexie Sachs
She got to be in the photos
The selfie-mode lens ended up being the best feature. She loved being able to take pictures of herself with characters, with her family, or with the new friends she made on vacation. She also enjoyed taking selfie shots with whatever she found interesting on the cruise, like a photo with the ship in the background when we were docked.
Courtesy of Lexie Sachs
Final thoughts
I’m so thankful for the Good Housekeeping reader who shared this tip because it made such a difference in my daughter’s experience. Of course, as a camera intended for children, its photo quality doesn’t compare to what I can capture on my phone. Still, it’s better than other kids’ cameras we’ve tried, many of which are black-and-white and grainy. It’s become a prized possession and something we’ll continue to use even outside of travel.
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