I’ve got a toddler myself who is very wiggly-which makes it challenging to get her to sit still for photos! My solution? I don’t force her to! Nor do I make my clients sit still when they want to move around and play. Instead, we play together in ways that lead up to natural moments that create laughter and smiles ready for the camera. Here are some of my favorite tips and tricks for you to try in order to help you get your kids to smile for photos. Whether you’re snapping them yourself or the whole family is in front of the camera, these tricks are sure to get you smiles!

6 Easy Ways to Get Your Kids to Smile Photos

1. Sing and dance! Have their favorite songs ready play on your phone. Consider making a playlist ahead of time that will cycle through songs you know they love to sing and dance to. This is an easy to way to get smiles and interaction.
2. Make animal noises – List off your children’s favorite animals and ask them to imitate the sound they make. Play along with them. Make the sounds yourself and have your kids guess what animal you are. Acting silly with your kids is a great way to get natural smiles.
3. Silly voices – Surprising your children in silly voices or accents is sure you get you some laughs.
4. Fake sneeze! I use this one all the time. Give it a big wind up and really exaggerate. Your kids will look your way in anticipation of another sneeze so it gives you a chance to pull your camera up really quickly in between “sneezes”. This is a trick I use often to gain both their attention and laughter.
5. Interactive games – Play peek-a-boo and over react and act really scared when your child says “boo!” so they laugh. Play guess-who by acting like a person they know (mom, dad, grandparent, etc.) or animal and have them guess who/what you are.
6. Tickles! This one is always a winner. Have your family tickle each other by telling them to count very slowly to 3. When you get to 3, say the name of the family member who everyone is going to tickle. For example, “1…2…3…tickle mom!” and repeat with other family members. This gives opportunity to capture the excited anticipation and laughter.

These tricks work wonders for me! Try them out and be sure to have the camera ready.

If you’re looking for a custom experience with the whole family in the photo, I’d love to help you create exactly what you’re envisioning. I promise to help you every step of the way and get you the artwork you’ve always dreamed of so your memories are preserved for the long-haul. Please reach out if you’d like me to help you document this season for you.