How can you engage your children or grandchildren in family stories? Give them paper and crayons and let them illustrate the story as you tell it. I’ve been writing fictionalized accounts of my dad’s tales so that his posterity could know him. Having my grandchildren in town gave me the chance to tell them the latest story in his saga and see their creativity. We marveled at his surviving so many adventures. So far I’ve written...
For Father’s Day, my kids and I came up with a project to learn about fathers in our family tree and how they are courageous, strong, generous, and kind…like super heroes! We also made a “Super Dad” card that you can draw a picture of dad’s face on (or glue a photo onto it). Here are the printables ! Super Dads In My Family Tree To learn about the wonderful qualities that dads in our...
Family reunions, gatherings, and potlucks are here, with summertime in full swing. Here is a fun book and activity to do with your kids this summer as you get ready for those family reunions and gatherings. Hope and her family arrive at Aunt Poogee’s farm, which is five hours from the city she lives in. She’s there to spend the summer with all her aunts, uncles and cousins on her mother’s side. When she arrives,...
‘Flags-In’ at Arlington National Cemetery for Memorial Day 2008 by The U.S. Army at Flikr Many of my 4th and 5th great uncles died while serving in the Confederacy. This is difficult because I vehemently oppose the Confederacy’s ideals and what they were fighting for. I condemn their way of life and how they built their economy on the backs of enslaved people. I abhor their plan to rebel against my beloved country to continue...
For family history storytime this week we read The Wall by Eve Bunting and did two crafts to remember relatives who fought for our country and gave the ultimate sacrifice. Poppies First, we made poppy flowers. I found a Canadian book telling about the poppy flower and how it has come to be a memorial to fallen soldiers. Poppies were first used to remember soldiers after WWI. They grow in fields that have recently been plowed or...
We had the best time yesterday doing this inter-generational heirloom activity. What objects from the past have you kept because they have special meaning to you? What has been passed down in your family? Do your children know about them? Kids and families can work together on this heirloom hunt to learn about the heirlooms in their family. My son recently interviewed his grandparents over video chat to fill out his inherited traits chart. We...
Announcing the theme for our June “Family History for Children” blog link up: fun family history ideas for Father’s Day. What stories from our family’s past can help our sons become better fathers? What exemplary fathers do you have in your family tree whose stories can help your kids? Our purpose is to strengthen children with stories from the past by creating a fun project. Hopefully families and can use our projects to celebrate father’s...
I wish the MyFamily History Youth Camp had been around when I was a teenager. I would have LOVED it! The camp is in conjunction with the BYU Conference on Family History and Genealogy and when I was there last year, I saw that there was a youth camp going on at the same time. My curiosity was piqued! The youth camp is July 24-28 this summer and it’s a one of a kind experience. I’ll be...
Mothers who actively choose to remember important experiences and stories from the past and share these memories with their children have great power to shape their children’s emotional well-being. In a 2003 General Conference talk, Susan W. Tanner told about a little journal she wrote for her 17-year-old daughter. Almost three years ago, one of our daughters got married and immediately left with her husband for medical school in a distant city. She was leaving...
Do you know a memory keeper? The person in the family who captures a moment in time with a photo or video, sharing and displaying, collecting and keeping? I have the good fortune to be the daughter of a memory keeper. As long as I can remember, my mother, Anna Mae Kelsey, had a camera in her hand, snapping photos of birthday parties, family vacations, babies. Those photos went into picture frames and albums. Her simple...
