Beginner portrait photographer needs advice on lens for Nikon d3000?

I'm really getting into portrait photography (mostly just natural light photos of my kiddos). I'd like to take my portraits to the next level, but I'm not sure what kind of lens to get for my nikon d3000. I currently own the one that it came with, but the aperture will only go as low as f5.6 and from what I've heard a way to get better photos is a lens that can go even lower. What would you suggest?

The best (& cheapest) lens to get for portraits is the 50mm f1.8. There are 2 versions - the AF (which will need to be manually focused on your D3000) or the more expensive AF-S version (which will autofocus).

You may also eventually want to look into getting some off camera lighting - a small portable battery speedlight plus a trigger to fire it off camera would be ideal. Lighting is crucial in portrait photography and whilst natural light is good, there may not always be enough or it's not in the right direction, or soft enough. A manual speedlight, trigger, light stand and a softbox would set you back about £130.

Agree, the 50mm 1.8.