Getting kids to cooperate isn’t the easiest task. Sometimes they’re tired, hungry or just not good around strangers. That’s okay! We’re here to help. We understand kids don’t always cooperate and we want you to know our associates have a few tricks up their sleeve to get kids to warm up to someone taking their picture! Here are a few tips for getting your kids to cooperate during your session!

Tips for Getting Your Kids to Cooperate During a Session | Family Photography Team

CAPTURING THEIR PERSONALITY

The thing that I think is most important is we’re trying to capture your kids’ personality. With that said, IT’S OK if they’re not cooperating. We always always try to get a solid family photo where everyone is at least looking at the camera. Sometimes our associates start with a family photo. They try to end with one because kids are usually warmed up to smiling and looking at the camera by then. We think it’s important to remember your child’s personality at this stage of life. We LOVE that we get the opportunity to do that.

GAMES

I asked our associates to share some of their tips and tricks with me to get kids warmed up to their session. The thing that was mentioned most is that they always start slow and try to play a game! Whether that’s seeing who can run the fastest to give mom and dad hugs, who can stay quiet the longest, who laughs first, run in circles around mom and dad or even play tag for a few minutes. Anything to get the kids to warm up to being part of a photo session! 

BRIBES

Our biggest tip and one we ALWAYS send to clients with our Client Experience Guide is to bring bribes. Bribes are super helpful when you have younger kids because during breaks, you can give them a couple gummies or some goldfish to both encourage them to keep going AND celebrate them for doing so well. It’s also helpful for me to promise my daughter ice cream after as well. I know it sounds crazy but it TOTALLY works! It pushes her to participate well and give good smiles knowing what she has to look forward to! 

These are just a few tips we have for getting your kids to cooperate during our session together! I promise you, our photographers are experienced in getting kids attention and we will do everything we can to get them to smile and have fun all at the same time!