How to Get Kids to Smile in Pictures

A family picture is much more enjoyable when the kids it in are smiling. To get kids to smile can be a challenge for both the photographer who isn't used to dealing with kids and to the kids who don't really want to sit around and smile. Here are some quick ideas of what to do to get kids to smile in pictures.

Instructions

1. Start a habit early in life. Teach the kids that cameras and pictures are good and not evil. You do this by example. If you go running every time a camera appears, your kids will, too. Share memories through scrapbooks and other photos to reminisce and make pictures a happy time.

2. Find a photographer that is good with kids. It is miserable to spend hundreds of dollars to someone who has not provided an outstanding service. Part of a photographer's job is to interact with the client. Find a photographer that is good with and likes kids.

3. Stand behind the photographer and act goofy to get your kids to smile. Give the photographer bunny ears and be goofy right behind the camera so the kids are looking in the correct direction.

4. Bring a favorite goofy toy. Kids laugh at the silliest things and often the same silly things makes them laugh again and again. Bring a feather duster or a silly pair of glasses with a big nose and hairy mustache.

5. Get lots of sleep before the pictures. Put the kids down for their nap before you go to see the photographer. If the kids are older, take them to the photographer at their happiest time during the day. If they are morning kids, take them early.

6. Schedule your appointment well in advance and choose a slow time of day. It is just as bad for the kids to be waiting around for hours waiting to get their pictures taken as it is for you. Ask what time is slow and go then. Call ahead and make sure the photographer is on schedule.

7. Bribe the kids. Tell the kids that they will be rewarded for happy faces. Some may go for a lolly pop and others may need a new video game. Do whatever it takes to have happy faces. That is what you want to remember.