Make up and more directing

I'm going to leave answering the makeup bit to someone else who knows more. Make up does work wonders though, and I've used some age-enhancing stuff for my projects in the past. What I normally fear with it is the believeability of the results. Cameras can be pretty unforgiving, so anything excessively artificial makes me very nervous.
Why not run a quick trial with one of the kids and see what the makeup accomplishes. Put that through a screentest with whatever camera you're going to use, and see if you're satisfied with the image. That way you could give your makeup person feedback for what you want different, and get exactly what you want OR you could choose to not go in that direction at all, before the project is underway. Saves a ton of trouble after. Plus, you can always dial things up or down in post if you or someone you know is good with AE or similar VFX software.

For the directing bit. Speaking from my own experiences, it is how it goes, unfortunately. "Kimmy Schmidt" is probably a little excessive, but timely sarcasm or humor normally really helps keep things dynamic and fun. I've been in things and I've directed things where the energy levels in rehearsals just go down overtime, and that has a nasty way of showing up on screen if it hits the dangerously-low mark. What can help is to change things up whenever things get too familiar for the actors. Try a new improv game. Watch some new video with them. Do some exercise you haven't tried before. Even just talk to them about something new by asking a question about the character you haven't before, about interests, fake memories, anything of the sort. Basically, keep the way they view the character different. if it becomes too familiar, it'll risk becoming boring, or worse yet indicative or stereotypical. Plus the ever-changing character will probably result in a fuller more-developed portrayal too. Good luck!

It's a delicate balance of letting people have fun and keeping the work moving forward. And yes it's up to the director the set the tone and atmosphere on set.

Also I can't imagine 16 to 9 is going to work. They've been through puberty, etc it's a big change.

Isn't makeup better at adding age then taking it away?
Seems like you'd be better off making a 9 year old look older than a 16 year old look younger. But I'm not a makeup expert.

chenjie108 said:

How possible is this really, making say a 16 year old look like he's 9?

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That cannot be done with makeup. And I am (was) a makeup expert

Second, I hear a lot of this: "Keep the energy flowing" "Lift spirits and easy anxieties by speaking of your enthusiasm" "Watch out for low energy. Rehearsal should be fun!"
Now I'm not a gloomy person, but do I have to be a Kimmy Schmidt the whole time? I don't want all this getting to my head / become self-conscious of how I should be as a person, I don't want to badly effect the cast morale in any way.

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This is an important life lesson. Be who you are. Focus on being a great director first and foremost. Then the right people will follow.

Ask 50 directors how to run a set and you'll get 50 different answers. The description you've described is one way to run a set. It's not necessarily the best way, it's also not the only way. While I do like humor and enthusiasm on set, I don't agree that there is a necessity for it to always be fun. Teams come together to work together towards a common goal. To me, being professional, working together in a respectful environment is more important than having the director entertain me.

As for low morale. You're spot on. You cannot work with low morale. There's also a saying, "If you try to please everyone, you'll end up pleasing no-one." Your morale issue has a lot to do with picking the right people (who can work well together) for your team.

Last piece of advice. If this is your first directing gig, if I were you, I'd shy away from a script with children in it. Animals and water (like a lake/sea) too.