my oldest will be 10 in just a few days, so to commerate, I had them outside. As usual, we ended in a frustrated pile of kids and dog. But before our attempt collapsed, we got a few.
Let me point out, that this is what they do. No coaching from me. Sadly, I can't get my youngest to hold still for anything. These are a few of the more normal ones. The little darling things she's a rock star, so we get rock star poses. And my oldest is as calm as can be.
Also, with my youngest, we used a big ole reflector (4x6 feet) which always bumps the contrast way up (for me, anyway). Otherwise, natural light in my front yard, in the couple feet between the house and car, 40d, 28-70 f/2.8L, and a mix of photoshop.