Last year, my grandmother planned a reunion for her ten children and 50+ grandchildren. I asked her if we could include some family history activities during the week and do a “family tree gathering,” so she put me in charge of Family Home Evening on Monday night. I wanted to plan an activity that all the adults would enjoy and even the smallest children could be involved in too. After giving it some thought, I decided that acting out...
For May, the Family Locket Book Club for Kids is reading “Me and My Family Tree” by Joan Sweeney, illustrated by Annette Cable. We are sharing two family tree projects to do along with reading and discussing the book. This post contains affiliate links. If you click the links and make a purchase, we receive a small commission but it doesn’t change the price of the item. Kids love learning about their place in the world....
Losing a loved one is part of life. Living without that loved one is also a part of life, but how can you keep their memory alive in a meaningful and appropriate way? Allison Gilbert, author shows us how in her new book “Passed and Present.” (This is an affiliate link. If you click the link and make a purchase, we receive a small commission). We love the book so much, we want to give...
Today I have the pleasure of introducing you to Allison Gilbert’s new book, Passed and Present, about celebrating the lives of relatives we’ve lost. Enter our giveaway of the book here! Remembering loved ones who have passed away is a unique kind of challenge. We want to celebrate their lives, yet sometimes sharing memories can be difficult. We may wonder if our family members (children, teens, etc.) are even interested. As family historians, we have many stories...
Image courtesy of RootsTech At the end of Bruce Feiler’s inspirational keynote talk at RootsTech in February, he encouraged listeners to do four things: 1 – “Find a way to connect your family story with the oldest stories ever told.” 2 – “Find a way to not just talk about the green and bountiful moments, but about the moments in exile, in desert, in pain.” 3 – “Find a way to take your passion for...
“Well-behaved women seldom make history” was penned by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Laurel Thatcher Ulrich in 1976. Do you have a well-behaved woman in your family’s history? A woman who lived through the astounding changes of the 20th century and quietly worked to make a difference? To celebrate Women’s History Month, you might want to reexamine her life from a different perspective and tell her story. I discovered a single scrapbook page that my grandmother, Florence...
Do you have a family heirloom sitting around gathering dust? Curious about the ancestor who owned it? Are you trying to find some ways to interest your teen in family history? Introduce them to this month’s Instagram challenge at makefamilyhistory.org and watch the magic begin. Teens love social media. Combine that with a fascinating family heirloom and you’ve got them hooked. I don’t have any teens left at home, but I am helping a...
Need a way to share family stories with your kids more often? How about coloring pages? Every so often, we create a coloring page about one of our grandparents. While my son was coloring one of his Great Grandpa Elder today, he remembered that Great Grandpa passed away last year. He talked about missing him and wondered what he looked like when he was younger. As he thought about it, he colored this picture of Grandpa in the army. We...
Do you look like one of your grandparents? Do you have one of their dresses or coats? Then you might have fun doing this photo challenge from www.makefamilyhistory.org : recreate an ancestor photo. My daughter Alice now has my pink baby sweater knitted by my Grandma. I showed her a picture of me wearing the sweater and she instantly wanted to put it on. We pulled a mini Christmas tree out of storage and… done! We recreated...
“It’s impossible not to love someone whose story you’ve heard.” This truth was spoken by David Isay of StoryCorps during his keynote at the Friday Opening Session of the RootsTech conference. The message of StoryCorps left a lasting impression on me as Isay beautifully illustrated how hearing stories of even strangers creates a connection. Most of my ancestors are strangers to me – but through their stories I feel a deep connection to them. “Every story matters.” -David Isay, StoryCorps...