The least number of plums that can be shared equally among 6, 9, or 12 children is the smallest common multiple (LCM) of 6, 9, and 12.
Prime factorizing each number, we get:
6 = 2 * 3 9 = 3 * 3 12 = 2 * 2 * 3
Taking the highest power of each prime factor, the LCM is:
LCM = 2 * 2 * 3 * 3 = 36
Therefore, the least number of plums that can be shared equally among 6, 9, and 12 children is 36, which is option (B).