Here are 20 genealogy and family oriented activities that a parent or grandparent can do with a child that do not require a lot of advanced planning and which will probably help the child to have an increased interest in their ancestors both living and dead.

• 1. Share with your children photos of and family stories about their ancestors.

• 2. Have the child help label photos of their ancestors. Be sure to write on the label before sticking it on the back of the photo because the pressure from a writing has a tendency to damage photos.

• 3. Search online for the ancestors of the child at these websites: MyTrees.com, FamilySearch.org, Rootsweb.com, or USGenWeb.com. Children get excited when they find their ancestors are listed online.

• 4. Find the child's grandparents and great-grandparents in the census images posted online. There are many sites both free and paid that display census images and other public documents online. If you are searching the US Federal Censuses ask your librarian if you can use your library card to access the online census images at Heritage Quest. If you need suggestions about other sites that have census images for the area you want to see, please write us at feedback@mytrees.com and we will send to you links for those sites.

• 5. Here is a fun website where the child can write about themselves- Write Your Personal History at freefamilypages.com. If the child clicks the "Play" link next to each question a voice will read the question to them. When "Submit" is clicked the site will then print out a fully written personal history using the information that the child has entered. I have seen children as young as seven use this website and create an d print a Personal History. The personal history that is created can also be saved and edited using any word processor.

• 6. Look at a map and find the location where the child was born. Then find the location on the map where the child's parents were born. Then find on the map where the child's grandparents were born. Here is a site that has educational maps to use online or print Free maps and map puzzles.
  You can also find other maps online by searching for the birth location (city and state) using your favorite search engine like Google.com or Yahoo.com.

• 7. Find the child's street and house on Google Earth. Zoom in on the house as close as possible and print it. Then find the parents' birthplaces on Google Earth and the grandparents' birthplaces. Google Earth lets you fly anywhere on Earth to view satellite imagery, maps, terrain, 3D buildings and even explore galaxies in the Sky.

• 8. Have the child draw a map of their neighborhood and label where they live, where their school is, where all of their friends' homes are, where they catch the bus, and where their favorite place to play is, etc. Save the map in a scrapbook along with other memorabilia about the child.

• 9. Visit a cemetery with the child and help them photograph a tombstone of an ancestor or help them make a rubbing of an inscription from a tombstone.

• 10. Help the child begin an online family tree at MyTrees.com Online Tree. You will want to register the account in the parent's name since the family tree that is posted at MyTrees.com displays the owner of the family tree above the pedigree. Only the owner of the tree will be able to view the living names they have entered. Anyone else viewing the tree would see the word "Living" except those entering thru the family access link.

• 11. Ask the child to draw pictures of events or write about events that are special to them. Save the pictures in a scrapbook.

• 12. Using the first names of the child's family members create a word search puzzle at this website. (You may want to include cousins' names.) Word Search Puzzle at puzzlemaker.com (Don't forget to print the puzzle you have created and the solution, too.) Every time you click "create puzzle" it creates a different puzzle even if you have not changed the list of words or names.

• 13. Have the child write a letter or call a grandparent to ask them questions about their life when they were children. For instance, did the grandparent have video games and television when they were children? Here is a List of 12 Interview Questions for the child to ask.

• 14. Read a newspaper obituary of an ancestor. If you don't have one on hand, try searching for one using Google. For the search parameters enter the surname of the child, the state where the death occurred, and the hyphenated word survived-by.

• 15. You might want to play a game that helps the child to recall memorable family events. For instance this "Guessing Memories" game. Have everyone draw a picture of their favorite family memory. Hold pictures up one at a time and ask other family members to try to guess the memory. Save the pictures in a scrapbook. There are many other family type activities to encourage a genealogy interest listed at these websites Legacy-Project Activities.

• 16. Here is another game to encourage family communication and interaction. "Favorites Guessing Game" - One member of the family leaves the room. For example, the mother steps outside. And the rest of the family is asked to write down (or draw a picture of) the answers to 3 questions about the mother's preferences; like what is her favorite color, food, and hobby. The mother then returns to the room. She is asked the same questions. Each family member whose answer matches the mother's gets one point for each correct answer. Then another family member is chosen to leave th e room, and the rest of the family writes what they believe that family member will answer to the 3 questions. At the end of the game the family member who has the most points wins and gets to be tossed in the air while laying on a blanket.

• 17. Find out if the child's family name(surname) has a family crest or motto. If it doesn't, have the child create one. Use this site to get some ideas about mottos: Family Mottoes by Armorial Gold Heraldry Services To get images to color and put on the family crest try this site: Make Your Own Coat of Arms. This site has a free downloadable software for creating a family shield on this page Free! Download Shields, Knights and Heraldry software.

• 18. Have the child try to read from a one of their ancestor's journals. If the journal is handwritten a parent may need to help.

• 19. Help the child to create a timeline of your family. Find out what other significant events happened during this timeline by picking a timeline relevant to the time period of your family. Lists of Timelines at Wikipedia

• 20. Have the child print and fill in one of these colorful and fun family tree charts from Disney: Tigger Family-Tree Charts to fill in