Senior Living Project: Build Your Family Tree
Posted by Donna Mae Scheib on October 20, 2017
Senior Living Project: Build Your Family Tree
The eldest members of the family tend to be the keepers as family traditions, family lineage, and faces in old family photos may be the most remembered by those who have lived the longest. Building a family tree is a great project idea for the colder months, and could even be a great gift to give other family members around the holidays.
Start with What You Know
Sitting down with just a paper and pen may be the easiest place to start. There are also various templates you could download to help you as well if you would want to use a PDF or a word document. It is a good idea to think about how detailed you would like to be with your family tree. You can do something simple such as Names, birth date, death date, and location, or you could make it more of a journal form going into more life details like occupation, family military service, and any article archives from newspapers or magazines. Here are some other ideas to help get you started:
- Search your home for old family photo albums to find pictures, names, and dates
- At the beginning, keep your search to one to two family stories and grow from there if you wish!
- Reach out to family members to see if anyone else has collected genealogy information about family
Utilize Online Resources
Today it is easier than ever with access to the internet to take advantage of genealogy websites, many free to begin your family tree research! Take time to double check your research by cross-checking websites and dates to accurately note your family history.
- US Census – A place to research various dates and locations of family members.
- Family Search – Create a free account to start researching your family history.
- Chronicling America- Look through newspaper archives of the United States to find articles.
- Find my Past- A place to learn about navigating your way through searches to help complete your family tree
- Fold 3- A place to access military history from the revolutionary war to the present. There is a 7-day free trial period.
- National Archives- Check out this website for immigration records dating from 1820-1982.
- Ancestry- Ancestry.com offers a free trial, and can also use your DNA to discover familial connections
- There are so many more useful websites to research and explore to help build your family tree!
Design your Tree!
Once you have successfully connected some dots you can create your family tree to share with others at the holidays or your next family reunion. Get creative!
- Use pictures you find to be the “leaves” of your tree.
- Ask a family member to help you design a tree using the computer to make it tidy and readable.
- Sketch it out with pencil and paper and frame it for a completed touch!
- Print and cut out the names and dates that you find for your family, and have younger family members help to glue them on a tree and color it in! This is a great way to spend time together and share stories about what you have found for your family’s history.
Being able to pass down family history is such a great gift to give your younger members of your family. Even if you struggle with making your family tree, consider writing a journal or making an audio recording of your life such as memories from childhood, the way things were “back then”, and important life events that you want to share with your loved ones. They sure will appreciate being able to read and listen to your stories!