Point and Shoot for a Budding 3 yr Old Photographer

[law guy]

My 3 year old daughter loves to take pictures and has a lot of fun now looking through the viewfinder on my 30D and pushing the shutter button with her little tiny fingers.

So, I'd like to get her a point and shoot to call her own. Has anyone come across a reasonably cheap and sturdy (certain be dropped from a height of a little less than 3 feet from time to time) P&S that struck you as something that might suit? There's the Canon A410 - around $120 (may not be that sturdy) and a Busnell 3 MP on B&H that says its water resistant for around $160 (http://www.bushnell.com/products/sport_image/specs/11-0013G.cfm) - looks sturdy but I have no idea if its just a mess to use, etc, and its a little more pricey. Any other ideas?

Update: Well - I looked a few comments on Amazon on the Busnell that panned it. Even though she's three, I'd like a camera that doesn't have terrible image quality.

 

[jsw]

Do you have any old camera phones around? My daughter plays with an old Nokia 3650 and likes it.

Polaroid used to make some really cheap digital cameras - well under $100 at Walmart - but I'm not sure they make them anymore.

 

[law guy]

Do you have any old camera phones around? My daughter plays with an old Nokia 3650 and likes it.

Polaroid used to make some really cheap digital cameras - well under $100 at Walmart - but I'm not sure they make them anymore.

No, I haven't made it to having a cell phone that does anything more than make calls. A good idea though.

 

[katie ta achoo]

What about that one?
When I had a kodak, I dropped it (I'm klutzy..) and it worked fine. It broke in Europe, though.. the sensor going hot-cold-hot-cold made it turn funky colors. white = pink now.

but, before it got abused by temperature, it worked really well.

or this one. I'd get a cheap, easily replaceable one.. I know that my nephew (who is also 3) can be BRUTAL on stuff.

Good luck.

 

[jsw]

What about that one?
...
or this one.

I'd pick the second one - cheaper, and it'll be just as fun to her.

Edit: here is an HP for a few dollars more, but probably better quality than the Walgreens one.

 

[Abstract]

Pick one with a viewfinder, turn off the screen, and let her use the viewfinder instead.

Oh, and if she drops it and farks up the LCD (which she probably will eventually), she still knows how to use the camera perfectly well.

 

[law guy]

Thanks for the suggestions all - good finds on the sub-$100 models. She is going to be very excited to get her very own camera and it will be great to see the world from that perspective a little more. As a side note, she takes pictures of things I never would and it's interesting to see. A viewfinder is a good idea Abstract - she seems to like holding the camera up to her face and looking through it. That Kodak Katie found has a nice little view finder above the LCD. I do like the HP JSW found as well - I'll go over to the HP site to see if they add a little viewfinder in that range.