How to Involve Young People in Genealogy

Genealogy is a pursuit that appeals primarily to adults. If you are a serious genealogist, though, you might want to involve your children or grandchildren in some way. Here are three ways to do it:

1. Make a Real "Family Tree." Young children will better understand genealogy if it becomes a hands-on experience for them. One way to make this happen is to physically make a family tree. You can do this with construction paper on a wall. The tree, obviously, should be made of brown paper. Write the names of the child or children at the base of the tree. Then, on each branch of the tree, attach green leaves with the names of ancestors. So, for example, the children's mother would be on the lowest branch on the left side of the tree, while the father would be on the lowest branch on the right side of the tree. Grandparents would be on the next branch up, and so forth.

2. Tell Stories. While young people are unlikely to participate in the research aspect of genealogy, they can enjoy carefully selected stories about their ancestors. If you are a parent or grandparent, start by telling your own stores. Then move on to stories about your parents, their parents, and so forth. It is best to focus on stories about incidents that occurred when the ancestors involved were children themselves.

3. Visit Significant Locations. Many children are interested to see the houses their parents grew up in. They will also be interested in visiting important sites that affected others in their genealogy. For example, I once visited a town in Pennyslvania that was established by my great, great, great grandfather. I know little about him, other than the fact that he established this town. Nonetheless, it was a fascinating visit.

Children are unlikely to involve themselves in the painstaking work that is so central to genealogical research. You can, however, help them feel some of the excitement of genealogy by participating in the above activities.