How do you get a natural smile from your kids during a photography session? Whatever you do, don’t tell them to say cheese!!! We’ve all been taught to say cheese for as long as we can remember, but when you say cheese you get a clenched jaw, scrunched face smile that just doesn’t look natural. Instead for more natural smiles and laughs, try these tips instead.

1. Goofy games and silly faces

Getting natural smiles from kids is as simple as playing their favorite games. Kids love to play games and the options are endless. You can play peekaboo, tag, or something like red light, green light. You can sing and dance, or make silly faces. The trick is to just have fun with the kids. As they are having fun, they’ll naturally smile.

2. Toss them in the air

Nothing guarantees natural smiles quite like getting tossed in the air! At every session I always have parents toss younger kids in the air. Kids absolutely love it and it always ends up with lots of smiles and laughter.

3. Have siblings tell each other funny secrets

Kids love secrets. A great way to get kids to smile is to have them tell each other secrets. I always ask older siblings to tell younger siblings a funny secret. Once telling secrets begins, the giggles are endless. And once they are done laughing about the first secret, have them switch and let the laughter begin again.

4. Lots of snuggles, hugs and kisses

Kids love connection and getting close to family always gets some smiles. Get everyone to come in close for some snuggles, hugging and kissing. When everyone comes in close, you are more likely to get some laughs and giggles from everyone involved.

5. Lots of tickling

When all else fails, there is always tickling. Most kids can’t resist a tickling and it always ends in lost of smiles and laughs. And to get even more advanced, you can combine tickling with some of the other tips. Play a tickling game where parents tickle the kids or siblings tickle each other. While hugging and kissing, throw in a tickle or two to really get the smiles, giggles and laughing going.

At the end of the day, it’s all about having fun. Kids are very observant and can sense their parent’s emotions. If parents are tense and worried about the session or about the kids smiling, kids will sense that tension and react accordingly. If you have fun, your kids will follow along too. So the most important step to get kids to smile, starts with you. Just have fun! If you have fun during the session, your kids will have fun too!

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