How To Make Family Portraits Fun For Kids

How To Make Family Portraits Fun For Kids – Three Ideas

Family Portraits with kids can pose MANY challenges for parents. Perhaps the biggest challenge is ensuring that kids are engaged, energetic and smiling in the pictures 🙂 In my experience, there are several things that parents and Photographers can do to make the session fun for everyone. Here are a few ideas on how to make family portraits fun for kids.

Schedule The Session In The Morning And Keep The Session Short

Typically, the best time to take outdoor portraits is going to be in the evening. This is 100% to do with lighting. However, when working with kids, scheduling the session at a time of day when they are the most energetic is important. If you are a parent, you know that kids wake up with a fully charged “battery” and are eager to see what fun things are planned for the day.

Mentioning the session at least 3 days in advance is a great way to build excitement. If kids see that you are excited for the session, they will be excited too! In my experience, 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time for taking pictures with kids. But you know your kids better than anyone else. If you feel that your child may take a little more time “warming up” to the session, 60 minutes would be the better option 😉

Promise Them Time To Play or a Reward After The Session

Another great idea on how to make family portraits fun for kids is to promise them play time or a reward. This session was taken at Martial Cottle Park and they have a really nice playground. Letting the kids know that they can play on the playground after taking pictures can motivate them to be engaged for the session. If there is not a playground, rewarding them with their favorite snack, ice cream after the session, or some other incentive will also motivate them 😉

Let Them Run, Jump, and Be Silly During The Session

Lastly, kids take the best pictures when they are having fun. I LOVE incorporating jumps, spins, and running into many of the poses. Most kids are not good at the typical “1-2-3 CHEESE” pictures. This will create a fake smile that cannot compare to the smile they give after doing a fun jump or running with mom & dad!

If you have kids, hopefully this has given you some ideas for your own session. Thanks!