10 Best Family History Activities for Kids

FUN Family History Activities to Involve Kids & Teens

You know the old saying, ‘we don’t know what we don’t know’? Never have truer words been spoken when it comes to our family histories. There is so much we do not know. In my case, I know I missed so many family stories when I was younger because I didn’t know how important they would become to me. Maybe we don’t know because we don’t have our elders still with us. Or maybe our elders never shared the family stories with us.

If genealogy is your calling, then we have a lot to share! And we can’t let our ancestors down now, can we?

Family history doesn’t have to be boring. Doing fun family history activities with our younger generation is a way to spend quality time together while creating memories that may last a lifetime with them. Whether we are digging up old photos, telling stories, exploring our ethnic origins or cooking up an old family recipe, there are plenty of ways to involve our kids and teens. In this blog, I’ll share 10 family history activities we can do to get our young people interested in the family history, from creating family trees to planning trips to important ancestral sites. So, let’s get started!

Create A Family Tree

A family tree can be as simple or elaborate as you want it to be. Creating a family tree is a simple way to dive deeper into family history. It allows kids and teens to get to know their ancestors better. Let them lead the way, sharing stories each time they write down the next family member they know of. While they are doing this, encourage them to ask questions, go and research with them if you need to and ensure they have the right information.

When they get to the point they don’t know anymore names or places, then it is your time to shine. Introduce them to their ancestors one by one. Hopefully you will have their undivided attention while you share, and show, what you know about them. Of course, make them as absolutely interesting as possible. Keep a list of people or questions the two of you want to know about and you’ll have something meaningful to do the next time you get together.

Use a large sheet of paper, colorful markers and even pictures
Use a large white sheet and permanent markers. You could hang this at family get togethers to encourage conversations.
Use the computer. You’re ‘youngins’ will know better but I have used PowerPoint, GoodNotes and recently LucidChart.
Use a large chalkboard
Use Post It Notes- especially good if you’ll be adding all the relatives and not just the direct grandparent line

Share old family photos and stories

“A picture is worth a thousand words” they say. There’s nothing quite like an old family photo to bring our ancestors to life. Sharing your family photographs with the kids and teens in your family is probably one of the easiest family history activities you can do. Don’t just show them the pictures or flip through the pages of that old photo album, take the time to share any information or stories that would be memorable enough for your young person to remember. You can create a fun game out of identifying different family members or guessing the time and place of the photo.

If you have a family gathering coming up, ask family members to share a treasured old photo and the story that goes along with it. What a wonderful tradition to start. Can you imagine the memories you will be creating? Can you imagine the stories the young and old alike might share? Sharing family stories along with old family photos will help the younger folks feel more connected to their family. It’s just what we need in this world nowadays. Connection!

Cook traditional family recipes together

sunflowers recipe box family recipes — My grandmother Esther’s recipe box

Some of my best childhood memories took place in a kitchen or around a dining room table with my grandmother. Cooking traditional family recipes together is a fun and delicious way to keep kids connected to family traditions and perhaps their heritage. Gather several family recipes and plan an afternoon of cooking. Invite others to join in, or to come and enjoy eating the goodies when they are done. Bonding with family members over cooking is an excellent time to share what you remember and hopefully inspire them to cherish their memories with that particular recipe too.

If you plan to cook an authentic recipe from your homeland, turn it into a learning experience. Make a playlist from that country. Google for interesting things about the country. Look at a map and see what other towns or interesting places your ancestors lived near.

So a recipe isn’t just a recipe, it’s chance to share stories about your ancestors, a bit of history and culture about the places they lived and pass down some family pride. Finally, eating your creations is on the top of my list of best family history activities to do together.

Visit ancestral homes and towns

Visiting family homes and towns can really personalize the family history journey. How better to understand the lives of our family than by going to the place where their ancestors once lived or worked? Being in the same place as they were can really to create a deep emotional connection to them. Consider taking a trip to the town where your great-grandparents grew up or visiting the farm that has been in your family for generations. Find the buildings that might have been there when they were. Take pictures. Stop by the courthouse and see if they can show you the land plat, then go visit it.

My great grandfather owned 911 acres of ranch land in Montana in 1923 and in 2021 is was still one piece of property and it was still ranch land. Just by seeing it I could imagine how hard it was to be successful at farming. If you are going to take a short day trip, or a longer one, do some research so that you can really experience how your ancestors lived there and conducted their business. It’s like going on a treasure hunt, but the treasure is your family’s past.

Conduct interviews with older family members

This is one of my favorites. Maybe it is the school teacher in me? Get your kids to interview their grandparents, great-grandparents, aunts, uncles or any other older relatives about their childhood, family traditions and other special memories from their past. We’ve done this in our family. Have your young person make a list of questions they want to ask everyone. You could always give them some ideas to make sure they really tap into this wonderful opportunity.

Encourage your kids to ask open-ended questions that will get the ‘interviewee’ talking. This is just one more of the family history activities that encourage young people to create bonds with their relatives. I bet they will discover some funny and interesting stories that they can share.

If you do the interview on paper, put them into a 3-ring binder for posterity. They will be treasured in the years to come.
If you do a video interview, make sure to start off by identifying who is being interviewed and their birthday and where they live. You never know who might see it in 20 years.
Here are a few of my favorite questions:
- Did you have pets? Everyone loves talking about their pets!
- What is your favorite childhood memory?
- Tell me about the house you grew up in.
- What invention changed your life?
- WHat do you want your family to remember about you?

child with grandparents writing on pad of paper

Attend cultural festivals and events

Family history activities that immerse young people in an experience can be extremely impressionable. A cultural fest is sure to be a day full of sights, sounds, smells and tastes that will stick around for years. If you are aware of your family’s ethnicity, then plan on attending cultural festivals with your young people.

These kinds of festivals are an excellent way to immerse kids and teens in their family history. Encourage them to try new foods, point out traditional dress, listen to traditional music, watch any performances where they might do traditional dancing.

What a great day out, and they will learn all about where their family came from. These events usually showcase age-old arts and customs that represent the old country. It will be a day spent learning about their history and making memories. Take pictures and record videos to remember the fun!

Build a family time capsule

Do you remember these from grade school? I love time capsules! I love being around when they are opened even more! Time capsules are one the family history activities that can involve everyone of all ages.

It’s an excellent way to bring the family together. Ask everyone that is going to participate to choose one item and write a paragraph or two about it. Maybe even take a photograph with it. It can be anything that will not rot, spoil or stink. Suggest photos, old letters or an old certificate- like your graduation certificate! Make sure to include a timeline of the family history and a write up of any important family events.

Remember that everything needs to be meaningful to your family. These are items that your descendants will be looking at one day and we want them to be things that represent a little about you. Also, consider how you will store your time capsule. And remember, it doesn’t have to be hidden away. Designate a place in your home to display everything that your family contributed. What a conversation starter!

The items are endless for a time capsule or a scrapbook:
* Movie stubs from favorite films * pressed flowers from wedding * favorite ball cap * ticket stub * senior photo *
* family recipe * treasured stuffed animal * babys 1st shoes * classic book * toy of the time * magazine * photos

Create scrapbooks

There is nothing like holding an old scrapbook, yellowing tape securing the newspaper clippings, greeting cards slipped between the pages. Creating a family scrapbook is a great way to preserve your family history. Encourage kids and teens to get creative by providing them with scrapbooks, colored pens, and stickers. Help them gather old family photos and have them write captions and stories about each picture. They can also draw family trees or maps to highlight important locations.

Gather special mementos that have been saved over the years like ticket stubs, a report card, a child’s artwork. How about newspaper clippings, or nowadays a printout from an article published online. Don’t forget about obituaries or funeral cards. These will all evoke emotion when looking back through the scrapbook years from now. Family scrapbooks can be small and simple or elaborate and detailed. The key is to make them personal. By creating scrapbooks together now, you can be sure that family history will stay alive for generations to come. Remember that there is no right or wrong way when doing family history activities and creativity.

Visit local historical museums and exhibits

I heard a funny quote recently, “museums are wormholes to other worlds”. How true! Visiting local historical museums and exhibits is a great way to learn about one’s family history. Local museums will have exhibits that highlight the history of the area your family lived in, along with lots of insight to the people and the culture of the day.

An afternoon spent in the museum is sure to elicit a lot of conversation and hopefully questions and comments that let you have discussions about how your family members fit into the community and the experiences they are seeing. Everyone is sure to learn a few new facts and have a better idea of what life was like in that area, or during that time period. But hopefully, it will subtly inspire your young people how important history is and to do their best to cherish and pass on their family history.

Create a family history mural or art project

The holidays are just around the corner. I love stopping my adult life and drawing or coloring with my grandchildren. This idea is about getting everyone involved. Gather the family together to create a family history mural or art project!

Family History Mural: Let your imagination run wild with this one. Come up with a general theme and let everyone interpret it in their own way. Consider family photos you’ve seen, stories you’ve heard or just memories. Some examples of themes could be: family groups, favorite Christmas present, sweethearts, pets. Tack a long piece of butcher paper on the wall, or just sheets of paper that you can later clip together for posterity. Add colorful markers, pencils or crayons and let them create their masterpiece.

This is sure to be one the funniest family history activities. My artwork doesn’t go past stick figures. How about yours? Don’t worry too much about the end result – it’s the process and memories that are being created that counts. Be sure to display this wonderful group project for all to see.

Attend interactive genealogy conferences or workshops

This is my dream come true. If you are lucky enough to have a young person that has stuck with you through the years and is curious about all things family history? Indulge them! Genealogy conferences and workshops provide a hands-on learning experience for kids and teens. Attendees can access genealogy experts who can inspire them by sharing their knowledge about family ancestry research. Kids and teens will get exposed to unique techniques for exploring family history and gain insight into how they can create their own discoveries. Nowadays these events could be in person or virtual. Make it a big deal and choose classes or workshops that are of interest to them and make it a date. Your support of their curiosity is just what they need to carry on our mission.

In closing,

Family history activities combine family history and fun into one afternoon of activity that could spark the interest of younger generations. By encouraging them to get involved in activities like creating family trees, cooking traditional recipes, visiting ancestral homes and attending cultural events you can help kids and teens connect with their roots.

My purpose is to make sure our ancestors live on. Find them. Share them. Connect.

Until next time,
Mary K