I need advise. My sons 3yrs old will be 4 in January and wont let his picture be taken. My son is in speech therapy for severe speech delay and he is in a public school, today was picture day and he threw a fit and ran out of room. He lets us take pictures but we have one shot and then he's done. The class before him was all daycare children and they did the same thing so his teacher thinks because they did it he needed to do it. They'll have a make up picture day but they dont know when. How do I get him to sit and smile for picture day.
Why does he need to sit still and smile for pictures at age 3? I'm sure he'd look cute and you'd probably love to have an "official" picture of him, but if it's causing stress and worry for your son, why not skip it until he's ready?
This may fall under "pick your battles."
It'll (possibly) be a cute story later on??
I would just skip the whole picture thing. If he doesn't want his picture taken, so be it.
I agree that you don't have to do it if you don't want to.
But on the assumption that you want that official school picture... try to turn it into a game for him (because kids love games).
Practice picture day with him. Set a stool up at home, and point lights at it (sort of like the pro-photog will do), then make a game out of having him sit for the picture; show him the results and do it again. Maybe the first picture - happy, second - grumpy, third - sleepy, etc...
Show him the results after each picture, then ask him what he wants the next one to look like.
The day of make-up pictures, talk to him about it, explain he'll only get to take one picture this time and have him practice in a mirror which "face" he wants in his picture. Good Luck!
Make sure you go with and take him when other kids are not there unless it helps him to see the other kids sitting and doing it. But with you there it may go easier. Otherwise just forget about it until later.
Practice! Also, is there a way you could be there when he takes his picture?
You don't. I mean... you can't make him sit and smile. Once you accept that, all things look brighter! I do love the suggestions below about practicing as a game. But depending on your child, you may just chose to let it go, let the school handle it, and whatever happens, happens. I will add that some preschoolers hate being asked to smile. Then the photography staff, trying to make things better, tried to encourage them to smile, or adjust their chin ("chin up") or their posture ("sit tall"). For my less enthusiastic students, I would approach the photographer first, explain this is a "one and done" child and have a picture taken of whatever pose or expression the child first offered. Sometimes these were the most precious of all the pictures. Best of luck.
Our son's fight against pictures started when he was 3. He is 4.5 years old and still to this day does not like his picture taken. We have tried all the tricks. It is a battle and most times I let him win. I am not sure but hope that it is a phase. It is lasting quite long though! Good luck!
why does he hate it so much? is he afraid of something? is he just being difficult? has he heard you talk about how much he doesn't like getting his picture taken, or have you made a big deal about it? i agree that it's not a big deal if you don't want a picture, but if you do, then I would explain to him that his behavior is not acceptable, and tell him that you expect him to sit for a moment and try to smile. this is not something that is scary in anyway, so there is really no reason for him to refuse.
