Family Tree Fun

Make your heritage come alive

Genealogy for kids doesn’t have to be boring. Instead of poring over microfiche and birth/death records, a kid-friendly approach to family history will entice young genealogists to learn about where they came from. Here are fun ways to pique your family’s interest about its past.

Start with Stories

Kids love hearing about themselves and their ancestors. Capitalize on their curiosity by sharing stories that have been passed down by your family.

• Talk about the day your kids were born, when they first walked and talked, and the funny things they did as toddlers and preschoolers.

• Talk about when their parents and grandparents were young.

Kids will be intrigued to hear about the time a parent dealt with a schoolyard bully or how grandparents met and married.

• Discuss what technology, cars and clothes were like when their relatives were young.

• Introduce kids to “celebrities” of the family. The rest of the world may not know them, but the entire family recognizes the humorous, memorable or notorious things they did.

• Play old and new family videos.

Compare how video technology has changed over time.

Give It Props

Like actors on a stage, enhance your family history with props. Search attics, basements or boxes for important family heirlooms such as jewelry, furniture, books, handmade quilts, magazines and old toys. • Draw kids in with photographs.

They love to see grandpa when he still had hair or mom when she wore an 80s hairdo. Black and white photos are intriguing because of the differences in fashion, cars and homes. • Make a list of family heirlooms and talk about why each is an important memento. • Dig out old technology like rotary phones, old typewriters and ham radios. Show photos or videos of a jukebox. • Visit a museum to see historic forms of transportation such as steam locomotives, Model Ts and horse-drawn carriages.

Have a Family Reunion

The best way to get to know family history is to gather with family members and talk about it. With the holidays upon us, be sure to take advantage of this precious time together. If your family is not able to gather in person, consider scheduling a virtual get-together. However you decide to meet up, consider playing games like family bingo, or “guess the family member.” Share photos, videos or family recipes. If you’ve been doing genealogy with kids and they interviewed an older relative, share what they learned.

Online Resources

These websites offer genealogy activities for kids, family tree projects, printable templates and much more.

Family Tree Magazine

www.familytreemagazine.com/kids-genealogy

National Archives

www.archives.gov/education/family-history

American Ancestors

www.americanancestors.org/education/learning-resources/read/youth

Scholastic

www.scholastic.com/parents/kids-activities-and-printables/activities-for-kids/ reading-and-writing-ideas/joining-generations-genealogy.html

Share Your Ancestry with Art Even preschoolers can fill out a simple family tree template. Try these ideas to capture your lineage creatively: • Represent your family tree with photographs and portraits, or produce a digital presentation. • Create a family crest or duplicate your own if one already exists.

Discuss the special elements with the kids and frame for display at home. • Visit a cemetery and make rubbings of family gravestones. • Paint portraits from family photographs. • Explore historic handwriting by looking at copies of the

or hand-lettering with a calligraphy pen or quill. • Design and sew a family quilt with squares of material from family baby blankets, clothes and other family heirlooms. • Make DIY silhouettes using photographs and frame them.

Write it Down

Older kids may enjoy these ways to document family history: • Interview the oldest person in the family and write a biography or summaries of their favorite times in history. • Write an “I Am From” poem (there are several formulas on the internet). • Compile a family cookbook.

Visit Family Landmarks When I was little, I remember walking around my grandparents’ farm, exploring the smokehouse and hen house, and watching my grandmother get water from the well. Visiting family landmarks creates a tangible connection to the past. Tour a family cemetery, take a self-guided walking tour of the town where your family originated or visit old storefronts, farms, homes or property that used to be owned or inhabited by generations before yours.

Do Old-Time Chores and Hobbies

Was your great-aunt a master seamstress? Did your greatgrandparents produce all their own food from a working farm? Share your ancestors’ pastimes with the kids: • Complete a starter cross-stitch or sewing kit for kids. • Learn to knit. • Use a woodworking kit to build something. • Churn butter in a mason jar or make ice cream in a resealable plastic bag. • Bake and cook from scratch using family recipes. • Grow a vegetable garden and use the produce to make dinner.

Become Descendent Detectives

The idea of doing research may seem boring to kids, but solving a mystery sounds exciting! Engage kids by uncovering family history like a detective.

• Explore baby books or old versions of The Bible that include important dates from your family’s lineage. • Discover what first and last family names mean. • Teens may have interest in investigating family documents such as birth, death and marriage certificates. • Using the Find a Grave website, I was able to find my grandparents’ gravestones online and view the family cemetery, even though it’s in another state. Visit www.findagrave.com if you have ancestors that lived far away. Learning family history can be a rich, rewarding experience with the right approach. Begin a journey through the past with your children and start a tradition for generations to come. v

Janeen Lewis is a freelance writer with degrees in journalism and elementary education.

November 2022 • SanDiegofamily.com • 17