Activities

These simple activities help young researchers explore their family history in fun and creative ways. You can do them on your own or with a parent, grandparent, or another relative.

Craft a Family Tree

This activity turns your family tree into a hands-on art project you can hang on the wall. Instead of using a small worksheet, you'll create a big, colorful display that shows your family in a way that's fun to look at and easy to add to as you learn more.

Here's how to make your own large family tree:

• Pick your paper: Use a sheet of freezer paper, poster board, or craft paper. Tape it to a wall or spread it across a table.
• Draw the tree: Make a trunk and branches with markers or crayons. You can use a realistic tree shape or a simple branching diagram.
• Create name cards: Cut out small rectangles of paper for each person in your family. Write their name and, if you want, their birth year.
• Arrange the people: Start with yourself at the bottom, then add your parents above you, and your grandparents above them. Use tape or removable putty so you can move pieces around.
• Add decorations: Draw leaves, doodles, or tiny symbols that represent each person—favorite hobbies, pets, or anything that makes them unique.
• Leave room for growth: Make extra space on your branches so you can add more relatives as you discover new names and stories.

When you're finished, you'll have a creative family tree you can display proudly. It's a great way to see your family connections at a glance and a fun project to work on with a parent or grandparent.

Create a Family Scrapbook

A family scrapbook is a place to collect the stories, pictures, and memories that make your family unique. You can use a notebook, a binder with clear sleeves, or a digital folder on your computer. Here are ideas for what you can include:

• Photos: Copies of old pictures, school photos, family gatherings, or favorite snapshots. Add labels so you know who is in each photo and when it was taken.
• Family Stories: Short notes about something funny, brave, or memorable that a parent, grandparent, or relative told you.
• Recipe Cards: Write down a family recipe and explain why it's important—who makes it, when it's served, or why everyone likes it.
• Special Documents: Copies of items like old letters, postcards, report cards, or certificates. Never use originals; keep those safe.
• Maps: A small map with places marked where your family lived, went to school, or traveled.
• Traditions: Describe holidays, events, or routines your family enjoys—anything that shows what life is like in your home.
• Favorites Pages: A section for you or a relative to list favorite foods, hobbies, games, or books. These small details help tell someone's story.
• Timeline Pages: A page where you track important moments in a family member's life: birthdays, moves, jobs, military service, or big accomplishments.

You can organize your scrapbook any way you like—by person, by family line, or by themes. What matters most is collecting pieces of your family's story in one place so it can be enjoyed for years to come.

Keep a Family Journal

A family journal is different from a scrapbook. Instead of collecting photos and papers, a journal is a place where you write about the people and stories you discover. It helps you remember details, organize your thoughts, and understand your family's history in your own words.

Here are ideas for what to include in a family journal:

• Interview Notes: Write down what a parent, grandparent, or relative tells you. Include their answers, your impressions, and anything you want to learn more about.
• Family Stories: Describe something funny, surprising, or interesting you heard from a family member. Try to record it the way it was told to you.
• Daily Discoveries: Each time you learn a new fact about an ancestor or find something in a record, write a few sentences about it. What did you find? Where did you find it? Why does it matter?
• Questions to Explore: Family history is full of mysteries. Keep a running list of questions you want to ask or things you want to research later.
• Reflections: Write about how it feels to learn something new about your family. Does it surprise you? Make you curious? Help you understand where you come from?
• Favorite Memories: Record moments from your own life: birthdays, holidays, trips, and people who are important to you. These will become part of your story.

Your journal can be a notebook, a binder, or a digital document. You do not need complete sentences or perfect spelling. What matters most is capturing the stories and ideas that help you learn about your family.

Interview a Relative

Talking with a family member is one of the best ways to learn about your family's history. An interview lets you hear stories, memories, and details that are not written down anywhere. You can use what you learn to add people to your family tree, write journal entries, or create scrapbook pages.

Here are simple steps to guide your interview:

• Choose someone to talk to: A parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, or older cousin. Ask first to make sure it's a good time.
• Ask easy questions: Start with things like where they grew up, what school was like, or what games they played. Simple questions help people remember bigger stories.
• Listen carefully: Let them finish their thoughts before you ask something new. If something sounds interesting, ask them to tell you more about it.
• Write down notes: You can use your family journal or a plain piece of paper. Try to capture dates, places, names, and anything that feels important or surprising.
• Be respectful with personal details: Do not share private information or post photos online without a parent's or guardian's permission.

When you're done, thank your relative for sharing their memories. Every story you collect helps you understand the people who came before you.

Make a Timeline of Me

Creating a personal timeline helps you understand how events fit together in your life. It's also a great way to learn how timelines work when you study older family records. A timeline shows the order of important moments, one after another, so you can see how your story has grown.

Here are ideas for what you can put on your timeline:

• Your birth year: The starting point of your timeline.
• Firsts: Your first day of school, first time learning a new skill, first time you moved, or the first time you did something you were proud of.
• Family events: New siblings or cousins, family trips, celebrations, holidays, or traditions that matter to you.
• School and activities: When you started a hobby, joined a club or team, learned music, or took part in something special.
• Moving or changes: Times when your family moved to a new house, when you changed schools, or when something important changed in your daily life.
• Favorite memories: A day you will always remember—a big achievement, a funny moment, or a time someone taught you something meaningful.

You can draw your timeline as a straight line across a page or stack the dates in a simple list. Add small drawings, photos, or short descriptions to make it personal. Later, you can compare your own timeline with those of your relatives to see how different generations experienced their lives.