Multiple Children - Opinions please

I have been asked to take some pictures of a friend's family.

There will be 5 children total, all under the age of 3 I plan to take a lot of individual shots, but I know the grandparents would like a few with all of the children together. I am just at a loss about how I could do this. I have seen some with all the kids lined up on a bench, other than that...any ideas? I would love to hear about/see some examples.

Thanks so much!

If I know what kind of setting the shoot will be in, I might be able to help further...

How about all the kids looking at a few books together? Capture them playing?

When I'm shooting a number of little kids, I like to let them do what they like doing and give minimal direction. Cause when you're dealing with that many kids, that young, they rarely stay still for a pose you have in mind for as long as you would like them too. And I HATE when they're in the fake/forced smile stage. Keep it fun for them!!

Thanks Mhappy!

I've been scouring the web for examples and I'm thinking bubbles and possibly even balloons. What kid doesn't like bubbles?

I think the parents mentioned the setting would be at a local park.

Giant lollipops usually work well with little ones. It can keep them sitting.

Put them all in a wheelbarrow and have someone take a few laps.

Get two other adults to hold opposite ends of a sheet or blanket like a hammock, with the kids lying shoulder-to-shoulder perpendicular to the way an adult would lay in a hammock. The handlers can swing the hammock, bounce it, etc. to get the kids excited and generate the expressions.

If you can get above them, have them play ring-around-the-rosie, or use a hula hoop and have them encircle the hoop and hold onto it while they look up, and/or see if you can get them to all stand together inside the hoop.

Stack them behind each other on a playground slide.

Get 5 joint compound (or similar) buckets, put them somewhere scenic, and stick each kid in a bucket. Have them hide from you (heads down in the bucket) and all play peekaboo at the same time.

If you have enough adults, have adults hold each kid high in the air doing the "airplane" thing, with all the kids flying in tight formation. Frame the shot to get an interesting perspective of the kids perched atop a forest of arms.

I've never tried any of these, I was just trying to think of things that would keep the kids in a single, reasonably close-up frame for enough time to capture a few shots, while also generating some good genuine smiles.

Good luck, and post your results for us!

Thanks everyone!

The shoot is tomorrow morning, I hope I get some decent shots

I'm a bit late to suggest, but one of my favourite photographers for children is http://tarawhitney.com​/

I love the freshness her photos contain, and I love how she captures children in the moment.

I hope the shoot went well.