We are looking for ideas for going into families homes to teach them about Family History, specifica

Raquel Turner

We are looking for ideas for going into families homes to teach them about Family History, specifically for those that have younger children.

We have great success going into homes that have mostly children over the age of 10 by using the photo discovery activities and teaching them how to set up their tree and to find names for the temple. But when families with small children ask us to come do a family home evening, we are a little bit at a loss of how to engage the whole family. I would appreciate any suggestions. the simpler the better. Thank You

Chris Schmink

Younger children love stories! So as the older children and particularly parents start finding old printed stories about ancestors, or as a family begins to talk with (and hopefully record) older family members, those stories can be read to the children (if they weren't present during discussions with an older great grandparent, great aunt or uncle, etc.). Help them find out what happened in their ancestors' lives. Plus the activity about the individual in FamilySearch is great. The younger children can look at those pages that pertain to their older siblings and/or parents (who was president, what was the price of gasoline, who won various sports championships, what special events occurred during the year of someone's birth for example. These become the basis for instant "stories" about what it was like "back then." And as more remote stories are found in county historical society journals, for example, discussions can be had about how different things were for them vs. what it's like for us today - again, potentially fascinating story material for younger kids.

 

Also, the activity where you put your own face into a photo of a person that lived perhaps 100 - 150 years ago can be especially fun for the younger kids, as they see what they'd have looked like if they'd lived "back then."

 

All of these activities can now be found on the top menu bar (rather recent addition) on the FamilySearch home page where you log in. Find the green FamilySearch tree over on the far left at the top, then look over toward the center on the same line - "Activities" is now there, complete with "All About Me," "Compare-a-Face," etc. The older children and parents can help younger children complete their first "Record My Story" there.

 

-- Chris

Patricia Jensen

Here's a link to some ideas I saw on a blog:

http://www.growinglittleleaves.com/activities.html

Here's a link from ChurchofJesusChrist.org that has a variety of things:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/children/resources/topics/temples?lang=eng

 

Enjoy!

S Mehr

That site has tons of great ideas for kids! Thanks for sharing!

Raquel Turner

These are great ideas. Thank you. I think we can maybe teach the parents how to add a memory while telling a great story.

Raquel Turner

Thank you so much. Those are good ideas

Jan Travers

I've taught children using paper chains. The children wrote the names of their family, or drew pictures of them, on paper strips and then we connected them together as chains. It's a simple idea but very effective.

Raquel Turner

Thank you Janet. Good idea.