Family History Activities for Young Children

In my "Mini Family Discovery Day" I included activities that should be of interest to children of middle school age and up. But there are many things that can be enjoyed by younger children.

I have seen examples of having young children use LEGO bricks to build sailing ships (or steam ships), covered wagons, tents, homesteader shanties, etc.

And what young child doesn't enjoy a well-told story from an ancestor's life? That was the first thing that hooked me on family history! (... a family fleeing famine-ravaged Ireland in 1847 on a ship that nearly sinks in a storm, surviving a plague and then establishing themselves in a total wilderness ... Who could resist wanting to know more?)

Drawing and coloring pictures based on a family story is something that can be enjoyed by very young children.

One interesting idea I saw was to have a child color outline maps of countries, states, or provinces that their ancestors came from. RootMapper or Grandma's Pie would make it easy to identify those areas.

One superior blog on this topic is http://www.growinglittleleaves.com That is where I found the map-coloring activity. I quote from the Contact page:

"Welcome! My name is Emily Kowalski Schroeder and I am the creator and author of the Growing Little Leaves blog. After working as a scientist, I made the decision to suspend my career and stay at home with my children on a full-time basis. I soon became an avid genealogical researcher, and began looking for age-appropriate ways in which to engage my young children in learning their family's history. Somewhat dismayed by the lack of family history education options for younger children (toddlers through elementary age), I decided to develop my own genealogy education activities for my children and share them with others via my blog, Growing Little Leaves.

"In July 2014, I entered into a partnership with the Indiana Historical Society. Our goal is to provide quality genealogy educational programming for both young children and their caretakers."

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If you want young children to enjoy family history, I suggest you visit Emily's blog.

Bill's Mini Family Discovery Center

Mini Family Discovery Center

Note that the first four sites are not LDS websites and may include some irrevent content.
After each activity below, return to this tab to continue with the next activity.

1. What does my first name mean? 
(Most given names have a meaning, often from an earlier form of the name. Some given names are unique.)

2. What was happening the year I was born?

3. What is the origin of my family name?

4. Where is my family name most commonly found? For occurrences in the UK and Canada, scroll down to the map.

5. Where did my own ancestors come from? Rootsmapper.com To choose the number of generations, click Start.

6. Am I related to some famous historical people? RelativeFinder.org (The further back your lines have been traced in Family Tree, the more relationships you will see to famous people. If you are just getting started there may be none shown, but give it a try!)

7. Can I see a fan chart of my ancestors? Click this link and sign in. You can navigate this fan chart by clicking the name you want to put in the center.

8. Can I find an ancestor to take to the temple? FindARecord.com Uncheck all but Ordinances. (6 generations would be your great-great-great-grandparents and their descendants.) You can use the links to view the ancestor's Person page, click the Ordinances tab, and reserve temple ordinances. (Your goal is to take one ancestor to the temple soon, not to reserve large numbers ordinances, thereby preventing other family members from taking them to the temple.)

9. Can I print an ordinance card to take my ancestor to the temple? When signed in your LDS account at FamilySearch,org, click the Temple tab. Find the ancestor you have reserved, put a check mark in the box beside their name, click Print and follow the prompts. Pick up the printed ordinance card from the printer and trim it to size. (If you have no printer, carefully copy the 16-digit number to a piece of paper and take it to the temple office so they can print the card.)

10. Historical photo of me and my family using a camera, phone, or tablet. Get help from FHC staff to upload the photo.

11. Scan an old family photo to FamilySearch Memories by using the scanner. Get help.

12. Record an interview and upload it to FamilySearch Memories, by using the Memories app. Get help.


Note that the temple-related points, 8 and 9 are for Latter-day Saints only. The other points should work equally well with the general public.


Inspired by a recent visit to the Family Discovery Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Bill Buchanan, Edmonton Riverbend FHC
This posting may be useful if your Family History Center plans a Family Discovery Day sometime soon, or as an on-going feature. Please feel free to borrow and adapt these ideas. I would welcome feedback in the Comments.

Bill's Mini Family Discovery Center

Mini Family Discovery Center

Note that the first four sites are not LDS websites and may include some irrelevent content.
After each activity below, return to this tab to continue with the next activity.

1. What does my first name mean?  Or simpler
(Most given names have a meaning, often from an earlier form of the name. Some given names are unique.)

2. What was happening the year I was born?

3. What is the origin of my family name?

4. Where is my family name most commonly found? For occurrences in the UK and Canada, scroll down to the map.

5. Where did my own ancestors come from? Rootsmapper.com To choose the number of generations, click Start.

6. Am I related to some famous historical people? RelativeFinder.org (The further back your lines have been traced in Family Tree, the more relationships you will see to famous people. If you are just getting started there may be none shown, but give it a try!)

7. Can I see a fan chart of my ancestors? Click this link and sign in. You can navigate this fan chart by clicking the name you want to put in the center.

8. Can I find an ancestor to take to the temple? FindARecord.com Un-check all but Ordinances. (6 generations would be your great-great-great-grandparents and their descendants.) You can use the links to view the ancestor's Person page, click the Ordinances tab, and reserve temple ordinances.

9. Can I print an ordinance card to take my ancestor to the temple? When signed in your LDS account at FamilySearch,org, click the Temple tab. Find the ancestor you have reserved, put a check mark in the box beside their name, click Print and follow the prompts. Pick up the printed ordinance card from the printer and trim it to size. (If you have no printer, carefully copy the 16-digit number to a piece of paper and take it to the temple office so they can print the card.)

10. Historical photo of me and my family using a camera, phone, or tablet. Get help from FHC staff to upload the photo.

11. Scan an old family photo to FamilySearch Memories by using the scanner. Get help.

12. Record an interview and upload it to FamilySearch Memories, by using the Memories app. Get help.


Note that the temple-related points, 8 and 9 are for Latter-day Saints only. The other points should work equally well with the general public.


Inspired by a recent visit to the Family Discovery Center in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building.
Bill Buchanan, Edmonton Riverbend FHC
This posting may be useful if your Family History Center plans a Family Discovery Day sometime soon, or as an on-going feature. Please feel free to borrow and adapt these ideas. I would welcome feedback in the Comments.