GUIDE | AMSTERDAM

A Photoshoot with Little Kids: What Really Helps

By Aleksandria Rudenko | Published 1 November 2026

Laughing parents on a canal bridge with their two little kids, the older girl on her father's shoulders and the toddler in her mother's arms

What helps most in a photoshoot with little kids? Play first, a spot with something to do and a favorite toy. Add room to run, and parents who join in and gently help when a shot needs it. Small children give their best frames once they forget the camera. So I plan the hour around play, with a quick pose here and there.

This guide comes from three sessions in the Amsterdam canal ring. A toddler played on the Amstelveld, with a baby on the way. Two little sisters brought their stuffed animals to the Reguliersgracht, and two brothers walked along the Leidsegracht. Every photo below is from those hours. They also show how my family photoshoots in Amsterdam work: I choose the route and guide you. So nobody has to prepare a thing.

At a glance

How long: One hour is usually plenty with young children
From what age: From around one year (no newborn sessions)
When: A slot when they are rested and fed, not right before a nap
What to bring: Nothing required; a favorite toy or a snack is welcome
Your part: Join in, play along and help with a few calm seconds when a shot needs them
Where: One area with room to play: a square, a bridge, a stoop

How Does the Hour Start?

With play, straight away. On the Amstelveld, my first frame is from ten past eight in the evening. In it, the parents are already swinging their toddler over the low stone blocks. After that game, he had forgotten all about me. In August, I began on a canal bench with a small game. The parents kissed while covering their daughters’ eyes, and the girls giggled right through it.

Posing comes later, if at all. A quick smile at the camera works best once the kids have moved, laughed and warmed up to me.

Father swinging his son over low stone blocks under a big tree on the Amstelveld while the boy's mother watches and laughs

Two sisters laughing on a dark green canal bench, the younger hugging a cream teddy bear, canal houses soft behind them — The Amstelveld at 20:11, a canal bench at 17:15

Which Spots Keep Little Kids Busy?

Spots with something to do. For a photoshoot with little kids, I look for a sandpit, a spring rider, an edge or a stoop, and I build the route around them. On the Amstelveld, a sandpit with a toy digger lies beside the white wooden Amstelkerk. A Miffy spring rider also waits by the swings.

Toddler holding a yellow shovel in the sandpit of the Amstelveld while his parents play with a toy digger, the white Amstelkerk behind — The sandpit on the Amstelveld, 20:17

Edges and steps work just as well. The toddler walked the rim of the sandpit holding both parents’ hands. In August, a little girl balanced along a stone strip in a brick street like a gymnast on a beam. Later, a playground with giant pale blue hands gave the toddler fingers to climb across.

Little boy swung up by his parents along the concrete edge of a sandpit, a red toy truck in the sand at their feet

Toddler in a pale blue romper balancing along a stone strip in a brick street, her mother and father waiting farther back

From experience

Five minutes of real play often gives me more than half an hour of posing. At the sandpit, the toddler was busy with a bucket, and his parents simply played along beside him. In frames like these, nobody is looking at me, which is exactly why they look the most like the family.

Little boy running across a playground with giant pale blue hand sculptures, his parents and his blue scooter nearby — A playground with giant hands, 20:57

Can Toys and a Scooter Come Along?

Yes, and they often end up in the photos. The two sisters carried a white bunny, a teddy bear and a flowery bunny all hour. They also swapped them all the time. A familiar toy makes a busy bridge feel safe, and it gives small hands something to do. Their afternoon is in favorite stuffed animals on the Amsterdam canals.

Father laughing on a canal bridge with his two little kids and their stuffed animals, a boat moored on the water behind them

Girl in a pink dress laughing on the stone stoop of a brick house, a white stuffed bunny in her arms by the black railing

A scooter is welcome too. The Amstelveld toddler rode his blue shark scooter from spot to spot, so the walks became part of the game. Earlier, on a bridge, his little yellow toy bulldozer even drove across his father’s hair. That evening is in a toddler and a baby bump around the Amstelveld.

Little boy riding his blue shark scooter between two spots of his photoshoot, his mother strolling behind past canal houses — A shark scooter between two spots, 20:47

How Long Can Little Kids Keep Going?

A photoshoot with little kids takes about an hour, as long as the scene changes every few minutes. These three sessions lasted between 49 and 53 minutes, and none stayed in one spot for long. With the two brothers, something changed roughly every five minutes: a bridge, a quay, a bench, a stoop.

Silly beats serious, too. Instead of a family lineup, all four crossed a bridge hand in hand with giant steps. Later, a bench gave the brothers a short break. On a quiet street, the two sisters simply ran ahead while their parents followed. The brothers’ hour is in two brothers on the Leidsegracht.

Parents and their two kids crossing a canal bridge hand in hand with big silly steps during their photoshoot, a small boat behind — Big silly steps on a canal bridge, 13:14

Two brothers taking a break on a wooden bench by a canal, the younger one in a red sweater leaning on his big brother

Two little kids running ahead down a tree-lined street along a canal, their parents walking hand in hand behind them

What Do Parents Do During the Session?

Join in. At every spot, I ask parents to play along: lift, swing, tickle, carry. On a bridge on the Reguliersgracht, the toddler rode on his father’s shoulders and laughed at everything. At the end of the brothers’ session, their mother lifted the younger one into a big hug. In August, a mother knelt on the bricks to play with her youngest.

Laughing little boy on his father's shoulders on a canal bridge during their photoshoot, arched bridges behind them

Mother in a navy floral dress laughing as she lifts her younger son in a red sweater on a bridge, gabled houses behind

Mother kneeling to play with her little girl on a stone strip in a brick street during their photoshoot, the father farther back

When a shot needs a few calm seconds, you help your child through them, and I keep it short. The rest of the hour is play, together.

From experience

I keep the parents’ own portraits for the last minutes. By then the kids have had their hour, and the pressure is off. With the toddler, the last frames, just after nine, show the mother on her own with her bump. With the brothers, the last minutes went to the parents, cheek to cheek on a bridge, and then to the mother alone.

Mother-to-be smiling with one hand in her hair and the other on her bump, green plants and red flowers behind her

Husband and wife laughing close together on a canal bridge, her blond hair blowing in the wind over a navy floral dress

What Time of Day Works for Little Kids?

For a photoshoot with little kids, the time that fits your child matters, not the light. I suggest a slot when they are rested and fed rather than close to a nap. These three sessions started at ten past one in April and a quarter past five in August. The third began at ten past eight on a June evening. The light was different every time: a soft gray spring sky, a white summer sky, warm evening sun. All three worked, because each slot suited the kids.

Parents and their two little kids laughing behind a cast-iron fence in front of dark green double doors — Six o’clock in August, at the end of the hour

Planning a session with your own little ones? Discover how my family photoshoots in Amsterdam work.