Season for Family

A community of women finding time for family connections.

Family Story Book: Kid Edition

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I really wanted to come up with an activity that would help my kids enjoy learning the stories of their ancestors. My kids like hearing the stories, but I felt like for this activity they really poured their little hands and hearts into it. It was personal, it was fun, and it is something they have come back to and looked through many times since.

I was actually a little shocked at how quickly I started and completed this activity. It hardly took any of my time once I got started and yet I enjoyed every minute of it. To make it just as simple and easy for you, I have broken it down into 3 easy steps! 😊

Step One: Find Your Story

There are so many options for finding a story so don’t let this first step scare you! Try one of these 4 ideas for a great story:

1. Look through Family Search

Once you have your family tree open on familysearch.org, start clicking on relatives names. I would focus on the relatives from the last few generations as you tend to find the most information on them. When you get to their person page, there is a tab called memories. If they have a number listed next to it, there will be memories in there to look at.

Click on the tab and scroll through all the memories listed. And be careful, this can be dangerous as you may find time quickly go by as you get lost in these intriguing stories😊. Keep doing this until you find a story, OR if you can’t find a good one, try another option.

2. Family History Books

Do you have any old family history books a relative compiled and gave to you? Look through there for some stories.

3. Call Up a Relative

This step is pretty self-explanatory. Call up your mom, dad, grandparents, uncle, aunt, etc. and ask them if they would send you, or tell you over the phone, a fun story from their lives. People love sharing about their younger years, especially to their grandkids/nieces or nephews. If you can use their own written or spoken words that make it even more authentic.

4. Tell One of Your Own Stories

Write down your own fun memory of your life! Your kids will LOVE it! Look through some old journals or photographs and think of a memory your kids will enjoy hearing about you.

Step Two: Type Up and Print the Story

This step is so simple. Look through your story, decide about how many pages you want/need and then break it up into simple, natural paragraphs. Copy or type out their paragraphs so that each one is printed at the bottom of the page, like my example below. Print out the pages and don’t forget a fun cover page!

Step Three: Color, Color, Color, Bind

This part was my favorite. I sat the kids down, explained who this relative was and how they were related to them (this is their 4th great-grandpa). I then told them I was going to read them a story from his life. While I was reading they needed to pay attention so they could pick which page they wanted to illustrate. When you are done reading, hand out the pages, some art supplies of your choice, and let their creativity free. I had them write their name on the page somewhere so we could always remember.

Bind the book up and read through it again with all the pages done. For binding I used a report slip cover I got from the dollar store, but a 3 -ring binder or staples would work perfect too.

This truly was such a fun activity from my 3-year-old to our teenage cousins who helped us. I am so excited to get more stories done so we can have a stack of family stories to read through on Sundays, do for Family Home Evening, and to share with other relatives who come to visit. I hope you will try it out and leave a comment on the blog or our Instagram account @seasonforfamily. Happy storytelling!

KAYLA BERRETT


IG: @kaylaberrett

How to Bring Your Ancestors to Life with Your Family

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Summertime is the perfect time to bring family history alive for your children.  Check out my first post on “Bringing Your Ancestors to Life” HERE. I want to walk you through my process to give you some ideas and to help you get started.

Step one:

Look up a particular ancestor on Family Search or in a family history book, journal, etc.  If you don’t have any stories of deceased ancestors, then ask your living parents (or grandparents) about their own lives.

Step two:

As you read about their life, just jot down little bits about them.  Did they have any particular hobbies?  What was their profession?  Did they like a particular food?  Were they from another country?  Did they have a certain skill set or talent?

Step three:

Take those pieces of information and brainstorm some ideas for how you could tangibly re-create those experiences for yourself and your children.  

I’ll give you an example from how I put this process into action a few months ago.  I read in a family history book that my great-great grandmother, Bothilda Pehrsdotter, became expert in carding wool, spinning yarn, and knitting (among other things) when she was a young girl.  

When I read this bit of information about her, I decided that it would be fun to learn those skills.  I bought some wool (straight off the sheep), some wool carders, and a drop spindle.  Over the next 6 weeks or so, we carded the wool, spun it into yarn, and then knitted (with the help of a loom) a hat for each of us.  

Before starting this process, we had no idea what we were doing… but with the help of youtube videos, we figured it out. 🙂  

Not only did we come away from this project with some new skills, but also with a deeper connection to Bothilda.

Is there something from one of your ancestor’s lives that you could use to create a tangible experience for your children?  It doesn’t have to take multiple weeks like this example I shared.  Any little thing that brings your ancestors to life for your children is a win and helps to link generations together.

SHELLY LOPEZ

IG: @goodmorningshelly

Family Tree Gathering

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We finally have the doctrine, the temples, and the technology for families to accomplish this glorious work of salvation. I suggest one way this might be done. Families could hold a “Family Tree Gathering.” This should be a recurring effort. Everyone would bring existing family histories, stories, and photos, including cherished possessions of grandparents and parents. Our young people are excited to learn about the lives of family members—where they came from and how they lived. Many have had their hearts turned to the fathers. They love the stories and photos, and they have the technological expertise to scan and upload these stories and photos to Family Tree and connect source documents with ancestors to preserve these for all time. Of course, the main objective is to determine what ordinances still need to be done and make assignments for the essential temple work.”

Roots and Branches – April 2014
Elder Quentin L. Cook

I came across this conference talk recently and was giddy with excitement. Here is an apostle of the Lord, Elder Cook, “suggesting” we hold a recurring family tree gathering; A.K.A family party! I am always up for a fun family party and time with the people I love the most. So, I wanted to provide some resources and tips to make this simple, smooth, and easy to create in your own home with your family.

Questions to consider while planning:

  1. Do you want to gather with your immediate family or is there family near you (or coming for a visit) who would enjoy joining you?
  2. Do you want to mail, e-mail, or hand-out invitations? Even your kids will love receiving an invitation! (Check out the bottom of this post for a FREE printable invitation that you can use)
  3. Do you want it to be structured or more of an open house feel?
  4. Do you want to do food or no food?
  5. How can you display some of your photos and family heirlooms?
  6. How can you make this personal and meaningful to each of your family members?

Ideas for what to gather:

  1. Look through an old memory/keep sake box to find:
    Old year books
    Scrapbooks
    Childhood artwork/projects or papers from school years
    Wedding photos
    Baby books
    Missionary journals
    Pictures
    Letters/ cards             
  2. Gather heirlooms from your home or borrow some from family
  3. Find family recipes from parents/grandparents or cook a tradition meal from the country where your ancestors lived.
  4. Gather photos, family history books, videos, old journals, etc.
  5. Print off stories and photos from Family Search
  6. Collect any temple cards you might have to share
  7. Print and display a family fan chart so people can see what family history work has been done and what is left to do. Link for instructions-https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/printing-fan-chart/

Putting it all together:

Once you have compiled your things, find a way to display them around the room. Have some little blank cards available for people to write down information about the heirlooms they brought.

Family possessions, family history books, and family tree print from Branches

You might consider making time for people to gather and share some of their own stories or read a story from your ancestors. You could watch family videos together or have them playing in the background while family visits, eats, and looks around. Or plan a favorite family game together.

Eating food and enjoying some home videos

A suggestion from my own experience doing a family tree gathering is to be careful not to plan too many things. Plan two activities tops. Maybe watch some family videos and have your kids do a skit of a family story, or have a short story sharing time and finish off with a favorite family game together. In my desire to fit in too many things I felt like there wasn’t as much time for people to visit and explore all the heirlooms and family books I had out. Plan some time to just let people sit and look at all the family memories and stories you have gathered. To sit in small groups and share these discoveries together or jump on the laptop and look through Family Search.  

The MOST important thing is to remember to enjoy yourself and let things happen as they happen. I promise that through your efforts to be involved in family history work the spirit will guide and direct this event to help each person feel connected, loved, and inspired. Just sit back and watch the miracles that come from family history work!

Tips for including young kids

  • Have them display a few important items in their life right now around the room
  • Have some prompts ready to help them share their own stories. For example: What is your favorite memory of grandma/grandpa’s house? What is your favorite family tradition? Tell us a time when you’ve learned an important lesson?
  • Share a family story with them beforehand that they can tell at the gathering
  • Create coloring pages of ancestors for them to color. Here is an example at Family Locket: https://familylocket.com/ancestor-coloring-page/
  • Help your children put together a short play about an ancestor’s story to perform
  • Family videos are always a hit with the littles!

Tips for including teens

  • Have your kids look through their old journals and find a memory to share
  • Assign them to look through Family Search, an old family book, or call a relative and bring a story they can share during the family gathering. Make it a little more exciting and have them think of a creative way to share like a drawing, poster, or simple PowerPoint presentation.
  • Cook the food together beforehand and talk about the ancestor who started the recipe
  • Tell stories around an outdoor fire pit while you roast marshmallows
  • Have a few laptops or tablets out for them to jump on and explore Family Search

Wrapping it up

When everything is done, think of a way to preserve the great stories and memories shared during the family tree gathering so your children can visit them again and again. I added the stories, pictures, and fan chart to a 3-ring binder. I included a few pictures of the event I took, including pictures of the family heirlooms (remember to label these!). I also wrote out the family recipes we used and typed out some stories my parents had shared from their childhood to include. You may want to consider recording some of the stories shared on your phone to help you type them up later.

I loved doing a family gathering with my family! I was so surprised to find my mom had all these fun German recipes her grandma made that we got to try.

German Kuchen recipe from my Great-grandma Ziegler

Watching old family videos brought back so many great memories from my childhood that we got to laugh about together. We got to hear about my father’s first spiritual experience as a child and read through my mom’s childhood report cards (apparently she was a talker 😊). We shared a story of my 3rd great-grandpa who was friends with Joseph Smith and helped save him from an angry mob (how cool is that!). I was even surprised to find one of my old dolls and childhood sticker book collection. My kids were fascinated by the stickers and all the cartoon characters popular when I was a kid. I am just so excited to do another one in a few months and keep up this tradition of GATHERING.

Looking at childhood sticker book

I would love to have you try your own Family Tree Gathering. Below we have a FREE printable invitation that you can use for your gathering. It is available as a full page printable or a double-sided 1/4 page printable. We would love to hear your successes and great ideas. Comment here on the blog or on our Instagram account @seasonforfamily to share your own Family Tree Gathering ideas!

Download – Full Page Invitation

Download – Double-Sided 1/4 Page Invitation

KAYLA BERRETT

IG: @kaylaberrett