The 0-2 year old in your Family Session and their 4 important stages…
Preface: This info is very general and I am aware that every child/family is different. Even if we have Neuro Divergent members of the family, or individuals with disabilities these tips still usually work great!
When we are in the middle of a family session we might be frustrated with our children for one reason or another. I hope this information provides appropriate expectations we can all have on our babies especially when a stranger is sticking a camera in their face. There are a lot of perspectives we (including me when I have my kids in this scenario) tend to neglect when we just want a vision to be realized. But we can all get what we want in a peaceful and fulfilling way when we know better! I am going to heavily rely on Piaget’s work who separates the first two years it into four stages of development:
1. The Sensorimotor Stage
This stage is from 0-2 years old and is called the sensorimotor stage. They are learning primarily through their sensory and motor skills. So when taking photos of kids at this stage it is important to engage with these senses but not so much that we over stimulate them. Over stimulation can occur with too many people trying to get their attention all at once, noises that are conflicting, and not allowing them to explore their new environment if the session is outside of the home.
Primary circular reactions (1–4 months) is a perfect example of this. Consolidate information from different sensory organs. They start to engage in behavior that satisfies the way their body feels or their needs. For example, they repeat positive behaviors and adapt their behavior to feed from different objects. They turn to respond to sounds and sights in their environment. So finding something to engage these sensory experiences will promote connection and produce happy/loving expressions!
. Coordination of secondary schemes (8–12 months)
At this point, children’s behaviors become more goal oriented, and they can combine different behaviors to achieve goals. Thus, the photographer or family members can engage in tossing a rock, parrot silly noises, give high fives, family members can play peekaboo and so on. One thing I love doing is some sort of cause and effect game like pretending that some action they take can make me fall ect…
Tertiary circular reactions (12–18 months)
Instead of performing the same actions, children try new behaviors and actions to achieve different results. These behaviors are not spontaneous or by accident and can be purposeful. Instead of tossing things to see what happens they are now prone to rearrange things or purposefully deliver objects to another person or location. One thing I loved doing at this stage with my own kids is kissing their faces and they tease me by “whipping” my kisses off which then gets them more and more kisses. These are the funnest type of games to capture on camera so be sure to show me who you are with your babies!
Mental combinations (18–24 months)
Children start to rely on mental abstractions to solve problems, use gestures and words to communicate, and can pretend. Instead of relying on numerous attempts to solve problems/puzzles, children can deliberate and carefully choose their actions. This means our sessions can and should include games like ring around the rosies, hide and seek, or just throwing rocks in water. All of these things can connect the photographer and or make the photographer fade into the background and these kids just get to connect with family while in a beautiful location.
I hope these small nuggets of information can help you have the best experience during your session. It is so helpful to practice patience and understand that I will meet your babies where they are at. I might look like a circus clown but it will be well worth it when you get your gallery. I want so desperately to tell that unique story each of your family members bring!
