1. About Family History
2. My Family Tree
Kids Corner
Have fun with family history!
2. My Family Tree
In his book, The Secrets of a Happy Family (quoted here), Bruce Feiler records a conversation he had with Marshall Duke, a professor at Emory University who researched American families. According to Professor Duke, "The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger the sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned." The Kids Corner of The Family History Guide is a place where children can go to discover and experience the joys of family history.
Read more in this blog post: Six Tips for Involving Children In Family History And Helping Them To Love It
More helpful links:
- Obituaries Help: Ways to Get Kids Interested in Genealogy
- Youth Genealogists' Association
- Archives.com article
- Independent Study Course from BYU (helping children love family history; free registration)
- Genwriters: Genealogy for Children
- Genealogy Gems Podcast 162
- Family Tree Magazine for Kids—Teachers and Parents
- Kid Genealogists: Inspiring the Next Generation
- The Genealogy Kids
- Family Genealogy
Here are some additional coaching and motivation tips:
- Know the interests and limitations of the children you are working with.
- Choose age-appropriate activities for learning. If you have mixed ages in a group, design different levels for the activity if needed.
- Keep the activity time brief so the attention doesn't wander. Activities can be continued in a later session.
- Be flexible. If a particular activity isn't working well, change the approach or switch to another one.
- Be attentive. Stay involved, to answer questions and watch for potential issues.
- Be positive and encouraging. Children need to know their efforts are appreciated and valued.
This is your place for family history fun!
* Learn about your family tree, your parents' and grandparents' lives, and about other ancestors.
* Play cool games and discover some great activities for family history.
* Try this page out, and share the ideas and activities with your siblings, cousins, and friends!
* You can find more activities in the Family, Individuals, and Youth pages of The Family History Guide. When you need help, be sure to ask your parents, a leader, or a family member you know.
2. My Family Tree
Parents and LeadersIn an article titled "Four Reasons You Should Study Your Family History," Emily Christensen says, "Studying family history brings more than just historical knowledge; it builds relationships. Learning the stories behind names and dates teaches a personal history that explains more than just how each person came to be." The four benefits are softened hearts, greater unity, increased peach, and bridged generations. Dr. Duke (Emory University) found that the most healthful narrative is the oscillating family narrative and that children who have the most self-confidence have what a strong “inter-generational self." They know they belong to something bigger than themselves. Helping children fill in a family tree and get to know about their ancestors is a way we can strengthen them to successfully navigate life. View Lisa Louise Cooke’s interview with New York Times columnist Bruce Feiler discussing how family history can actually help today’s children and families be happier. View 20 questions he used for research, and see how they can be helpful as you create and discuss your child’s family tree.
Activities marked by an asterisk (*) take little or no prep time.
K2-01: Create Your Family Tree There are so many ways to create a family tree! For example, you can fill in names on paper for your family tree, or print this chart with circles to draw pictures of your family members. You can also check out this chart. With help from parents or leaders and The Family History Guide, you older kids can create a family tree on any of these sites: FamilySearch, Ancestry, MyHeritage, and FindMyPast. Show your parents this article about age guidelines for FamilySearch and how to get started.
K2-02: Discover New Things About Your Family TreeTo Younger Kids : Have fun finding out "who's who" in a family tree on this page in the Friend Magazine. Ask your parents or older siblings to create some more questions for you to answer, and to teach you more about family trees.
To Older Kids : If you have created a family tree on FamilySearch, check out all these ways to learn more by exploring your family tree. Have fun teaching younger siblings and cousins "who's who" on your family tree, and see Family History Stories for all kinds of activities to share stories about ancestors on your family tree.
*K2-03: Print a Chart of Your Family TreeWhen your part of the FamilySearch Tree has a lot of information, you can print a fan chart. Different trees can be printed for free here. For even more family tree charts, photo charts, or name clouds check out TreeSeek and more sites.
K2-04: Make a Giant Family TreeGo to The Genealogy Kids site for instructions to make this enormous family tree. Check out more ideas for family reunions here.
*K2-05: Play Family History Games Using Your Family Tree on FamilySearch- Play Little Family Tree for Android and Little Family Tree for iOS (a helper will need to log in). See K2-09.
- Play Geneopardy alone or in teams. See K3-06. Have fun choosing the right answer in categories such as Places, People, Dates, and Facts to learn more about the ancestors on your FamilySearch Tree.
- The Branches Game for iPad will test your knowledge of your family tree. Have fun placing the right name in the right place on your tree! Hints are available.
K2-06: Family Tree with Family PhotographsDraw pictures, or collect old family photographs showing your grandparents and great-grandparents.
- Make a family tree with the pictures or photographs.
- Be sure to write the name of each person under his or her picture.
- Decide which ancestor you resemble the most (see K2-07).
- If you need help with the instructions, ask a parent or leader.
- Find more family tree activities on the Family Locket site.
K2-07: Compare-a-Face ActivityDiscover who in your family tree you look most like in this FamilySearch feature. You will need to log into FamilySearch, if you have an account, and upload a picture of yourself (see K2-01 below). Or you can use a family member's login.
*K2-08: Who's Who In Your Family History?Do your best to identify 10 photos of your ancestors in this FamilySearch feature. The questions are multiple choice. You will need to log into FamilySearch (see K2-01) or use a family member’s login. Have fun with this Ancestor Challenge!
Find more activities here: 1. About Family History 3. Group Fun and Games 4. My Memories 5. Family History Stories 6. Service 7. For Latter-day Saints