Celebrate October as “Family History Month” with Ideas Found on The Family History Guide Activities Page

Welcome to October – “Family History Month!” Celebrate with family history activities for families, singles, youth, and children found on The Family History Guide Activities Page. Here you can check out fun ideas to connect with living family members, document and preserve the past, learn about your ancestors, make your own family history, and so much more. Have a look at the suggestions listed on The Family History Guide Youth Page to “make family history,” and get ready to create some wonderful memories! According to the production team of the Make History Website, making family history is two-fold: 1) Make something new that documents, creates, or contributes to your family history, and 2) Make something of yourself that enhances or contributes to your family legacy. This website features a myriad of ideas including a challenge to make home movies: “Home movies offer a unique way of preserving the past, unlike any other medium. Seeing who we were, what we looked like, how we talked, how we acted, and then realizing how we’ve grown or changed can provide a powerful perspective into our personal and families’ lives.” Here are some recommendations from the Make History Website team:

1. Film a Daily Routine What is your morning routine like? What is your bedtime routine like? What are your sibling and parent’s evening routines like? These repetitive series of actions change with time and can be an insightful record of you and your family’s typical day. Capturing a daily process or routine can preserve the simple but telling details of your life.

2. Film an Event Birthday parties. Soccer games. Recitals. Events are some of the most common home movie footage. There are big events but there are also small events that are worth documenting. Try filming a family dinner or a family outing. Record a sibling’s event. What other small but significant events take place at your house, community, or school?

3. Film a person Ask a family member if you can spend some time filming them. What do they love to do and why? What does their space in the house look like and why? What do they want you to film and why?

For more ideas (and help for beginners) check out the following:

Home Movies 101: Producing Your Family’s Memories

The Genealogy Kids – videos