Making School Picture Day a Fun and Memorable Experience for Your Child
It’s picture day season and your child is getting photographed in school next week. As excited as you and your child are for the picture day, you are also unsure how to prep your child for a picture day at school.
Should you teach them how to give their natural smile?
What should they wear for picture day?
What if they feel nervous about the stranger behind the camera?
These are just the few of the questions circling your mind. Am I right?
Well, don’t fret! You are in the right place. Let me go over the 5 important steps to help you and your child prepare for picture day at school.
Good Night's sleep
Can this be said any more?
The most important thing in any child’s life after basic food and water is a good night’s sleep!
There is nothing that a good night’s sleep can’t fix and the converse is also true!
There is nothing you can do to help elevate your child’s mood if they did not sleep well last night.
Make sure they get in the bed at their usual time and get the sleep they deserve. A well rested child is so much more likely to follow instructions and do what is expected of them.
And the best part? Rest looks beautiful in the pictures!
Comfort over style
If there is just one thing that you will take away from this blog post, let it be this!
Always always always choose comfort over style when it comes to little kids.
Happy kids in simple clothes look so much more pretty than grumpy kids in beautiful dresses!
Does your child hate button down shirts? Let them wear their favorite t-shirt.
Is that tulle gonna make your child itchy and uncomfortable? Ditch the lace or tulle or whatever it is that will make them uncomfortable!
Here’s my guideline when choosing clothes for your child for picture day:
Simple, timeless clothing.
No logos or big graphics
Block colors or tiny prints
Earthy or neutral tones
No neons
Pack their favorite lovey, toy or book
Your child will be introduced to a new setting today. They will meet a new person and will be asked to sit in a chair they might have not seen before.
It's normal for them to feel anxious.
To ease their anxiety, pack their favorite lovey, toy or book. Allow them to take pictures with their favorite toy.
Not only will it help them relax but it will make for beautiful mementos. You will forever remember how much your child loved this puppy and carried it around everywhere.
It’s always the small things that create lasting memories, isn’t it?
Tell them what to expect, but do not practice smiles
Tell your child about the photoshoot. Tell them they will meet a photographer today. Explain to them what a photographer is and what they do. Keep it silly and simple. Tell them the photographer is so funny and would make you laugh!
Kids do so much better when they know what to expect.
Give them all the details you have and tell them to have lots of fun.
But please, do not practice “smiles” with your kid. It will only make them more nervous if they feel they will have to put on a show!
All the emotions of your child are beautiful and worth capturing.
If we can photograph wonder and joy and love, then why settle for a fake smile?
Embrace the imperfections
This is a big one! Oftentimes we get so hung up on making things perfect that we forget the real everyday stories lie in the imperfections!
Is your kid wearing a bandaid on their forehead because they got hurt the day before? Or maybe they like bandaids too much and insist on putting it on just because!
Are they missing any teeth?
Do they have braces on?
Whatever might be those little things that you don’t want in the photographs, think again!
These are the little stories you would love to share with them when they grow up.
Of course your photographer will make sure they don’t have runny noses and no food crumbs on their faces, but other than that, embrace all the imperfections of their little personalities.
Now that both you and your child are ready for the school picture day, relax and get ready to fall in love with beautiful pictures of your little human!
Want to know how I photograph kids at school? Check this out!!
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