One of the biggest stressors of having photos made is hoping that your kids act good. Am I right, or am I right? It doesn’t matter if you are hiring someone to do the photos or if you taking them yourself (and if you are, you are my kind of mama… but make sure you hire someone at least annually so you are in them). You want them to smile and do what is asked to get the photo and move on with life. From one mama to another, I am going to share with you a mind shift that will hopefully help you learn not only how to get your kids to mind for a photo session, but also allow you to enjoy the session. Make sure to check out my post on the #1 way to get a good photo of your kids here! This tip is a game changer as well.

More of a visual leaner? Check out my YouTube video below!

Put Yourself in Your Child’s Shoes

I am going to share something with you that you already know: having a camera in front of your face is not comfortable. Now I am going to share something with you that you probably haven’t thought about: you are making your child uncomfortable every single time you put a camera in their face. There is only a small percentage of people who actually like it… and of that percentage, very few are children who would rather be playing. So, we need to realize that we are knowingly putting our kids in an uncomfortable situation. Own it. Know it. You are making your kids uncomfortable.

Now that we know what we are doing, we can come at a photo session from a different angle… which leads me to my next point.

Make the Experience Fun

We want our kids to enjoy the session, right? So, let’s have some fun with it. But here is something you need to keep in mind: fun is an opinionated word. What is fun to you is not fun to me. What is fun to her is not fun to him. The good news is that you know your audience best… you are their mother!

How do your child like to play? Is Simon Says a game they enjoy? Fantastic! Play that during the session.

What about ring around the rosy? Awesome! Play ring around the rosy in front of the camera first (this makes for great photos too) to get them comfortable with being in front of the camera. Think of this like slowly getting into water that is kind of cool. We are starting off slow and don’t just jump in.

Does your child love dinosaurs? If you are being the camera, make the best roars that are in you. This is guaranteed to take the distraction off of the camera and on to having fun… which leads to amazing, beautiful natural smiles.

Make the Session Apart of the Day

… but not the whole day. If you are scheduling photos with a professional, plan to go for a family dinner afterward. Make sure to express to the whole family why the photos are important to you and that you will be doing them first. After the session, you are going to y’all’s favorite restaurant and then home to watch a movie. Sessions are not about taking away from family time but adding to it. Using the tip above about making the experience fun will create some beautiful memories for you and your kiddos.

So there you have it: how to get your kids to mind for a photo session! This mindset shift could have your family go from dreading a session to enjoying it.

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