INSTRUCTIONS

The first step to creating a family tree is research. Create a form to list information you’d like to know such as:

A person’s full name – include any misspellings or interpretations that may have happened if the individual traveled from another country.


Date of Birth

Place of Birth

Related Family Members

Places Lived


You can personalize the form too by adding information such as:

Favorite Hobbies

Current Profession

Most Important Accomplishment

Or ask for a person’s favorite and most unique memory during a specific period.


Many Internet sites that specialize in genealogy will have forms available for downloading if you need a head start.


Start your family tree with yourself, and then move up the branches. Talk to your parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles. Look through photo albums and ask about pictures, when were they taken, who is in them and why this event was so special. Look through ship passenger lists for those ancestors that immigrated – Ellis Island, the immigration center and website, can assist with a great deal of information. Town halls and libraries can assist with marriage records, birth records, and census records. Churches may have records of members or your family may have a Bible where major life events were noted.


Recording family members and their stories will create a living tree for future members to enjoy. Photographs of all those people that provide information can be used to create some fun family tree projects.


Once you have a date base of information, you can produce a number of projects to illustrate your family tree.


A scrapbook with photographs of each person, their comments, favorite things and relationships to others can be a great project. This project can include the whole family by sending a scrapbook page to each person and have them return it filled out. Why not have them return the scrapbook page at a family reunion or picnic to add even more interest to the project.


Using a large piece of butcher paper, a drawn tree with branches can become a live tree by adding leaves with each person’s name, date of birth and relationship as you work to the top.


Real live trees can be planted in memory of those individuals no longer here or plant a line of trees for those family members living in one town or state.


If photographs are available of each person, they can be displayed in small picture frames and hung from a branch of a tree in family order; or scan the photos onto fabric and create a family tree quilt.


If any computer experts emerge from the group, a website can be created and added to as people are found or information becomes available. This creates a living legacy with access to many people.


Whether gathering information for health reasons, for a school project, an upcoming family reunion, or just for knowledge, makes certain its fun! A family tree is like solving a mystery or puzzle that can lead to many fun projects and discussions.