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3. Group Fun and Games
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Kids Corner
Have fun with family history!
7. Activities for Latter-day Saint Kids
In his book, The Secrets of a Happy Family (quoted here), Bruce Feiler records a conversation he had with Marshall Duke, a professor at Emory University who researched American families. According to Professor Duke, "The more children knew about their family’s history, the stronger the sense of control over their lives, the higher their self-esteem, and the more successfully they believed their families functioned." The Kids Corner of The Family History Guide is a place where children can go to discover and experience the joys of family history.
Read more in this blog post: Six Tips for Involving Children In Family History And Helping Them To Love It
More helpful links:
- Obituaries Help: Ways to Get Kids Interested in Genealogy
- Youth Genealogists' Association
- Archives.com article
- Independent Study Course from BYU (helping children love family history; free registration)
- Genwriters: Genealogy for Children
- Genealogy Gems Podcast 162
- Family Tree Magazine for Kids—Teachers and Parents
- Kid Genealogists: Inspiring the Next Generation
- The Genealogy Kids
- Family Genealogy
Here are some additional coaching and motivation tips:
- Know the interests and limitations of the children you are working with.
- Choose age-appropriate activities for learning. If you have mixed ages in a group, design different levels for the activity if needed.
- Keep the activity time brief so the attention doesn't wander. Activities can be continued in a later session.
- Be flexible. If a particular activity isn't working well, change the approach or switch to another one.
- Be attentive. Stay involved, to answer questions and watch for potential issues.
- Be positive and encouraging. Children need to know their efforts are appreciated and valued.
This is your place for family history fun!
* Learn about your family tree, your parents' and grandparents' lives, and about other ancestors.
* Play cool games and discover some great activities for family history.
* Try this page out, and share the ideas and activities with your siblings, cousins, and friends!
* You can find more activities in the Family, Individuals, and Youth pages of The Family History Guide. When you need help, be sure to ask your parents, a leader, or a family member you know.
7. Activities for Latter-day Saint Kids
More for Parents and LeadersAt RootsTech 2018, Elder Renlund quoted President Nelson: "We encourage everyone to get on the covenant path as soon as possible—even, especially, when they are new and tender in the gospel—and then stay focused on the blessings of the temple.” He added: “This encouragement is because the data are incontrovertible that young men who participate in temple and family history work have a higher rate of being ordained elders and going on missions. New converts who participate in temple and family history work are retained at a higher rate ... Those who are new and tender in the gospel, he said, include 12-year-old youth and new converts ... As they are focused on temple and family history work, more will remain active, more will be protected when the storms and fierce winds strike...We invite all new converts and new 12-year-olds to discover and gather their families and become active participants in the plan of salvation. We desire to involve 11-year-old children and even younger children in family history work and encourage them to qualify for a limited-use temple recommend when they turn 12 years old...Thus, they can and are encouraged to perform proxy baptisms in temples whenever and wherever possible...Involvement of 12-year-olds and new converts will have a “halo effect” on all who help...Faith in the Savior will increase."(watch Elder Renlund's full address here.)
At the same conference, Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary General President and a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council, said, "Children love to learn about their ancestors. Family stories can teach them important lessons and help them develop a foundation of strength they can draw from throughout their lives.” She talked about the fact that temple and family history consultants can lead young people into the world of family history along with their parents and other family members, and how working with children might require different methods than working with adults, “but I promise you that it’s worth the effort and the necessary adaptations and creativity ... Plus, it can be fun ... children can be the initiators to family history work in their families. Parents and leaders can share stories and experiences with children in the car, at the dinner table, at bedtime, and one on one ... Acting out a meaningful family story, learning about their family culture or even family recipes, viewing pictures of their relatives as children, or talking about and recording their four generations in the My Family booklet are all simple ways to begin connecting children." Watch Sister Jones's full address and read the blog post here.
Additional resources:
- Temple and Priesthood Preparation
- The Time Is Right: Helping 11-Year-Olds with Family History
- Family History: Stories/Activities/Media
- The Hearts of the Children
- The Taproot that Anchors Our Children
- The Promised Blessings of Family History: LDS.org
- Their Hearts Are Bound to You
- Family History for Children
- How Can We Engage Children In The Work of Salvation?
- President and Sister Nelson: Open The Heavens Through Temple and Family History Work
- Family History and Temple Work: Sealing and Healing
- Discover, Gather, and Connect Your Family Together
- Connected To Eternal Families - President and Sister Oaks (watch full presentation here)
- Latter-day Saint Section of The Family History Guide: Discover, Gather, Connect
- Youth and Family History
- Rootstech 2017 Discovery Day Presentations
- How Parents and Youth Leaders Help Youth Learn to Do Family History
- Engaging Youth in Family History
- Making Family History Fun for Youth
- Organizing a Youth Family History Event
Activities marked by an asterisk (*) take little or no prep time.
*K7-01: Family History Is the Story of MePresident Russell M. Nelson wants you to know that you are part of something greater than just you, and that you have an exciting, important work to do for your ancestors and for your living family. Sing along with this video to learn about family history. Find the words and music in The Friend Magazine. See more Sing-Along Family History Songs in K7-07.
*K7-02: Grandparents Make HeadlinesDo you ever wonder what your grandparents did when they were your age? They have many stories to share. All you need to do is ask! When they tell you about an experience, you can write it down so others can read it. Find out how in Extra! Extra! Read All About It from The Friend Magazine. See more ideas for interviewing grandparents in K5-02, K5-04, and K6-01.
*K7-03: Set Temple and Family History GoalsWatch "Hannah’s View" and think about what your own goals are for the temple and for family history. You could share these with someone close to you and write them in your journal.
K7-04: Preparing Names For The TempleWatch this video to see how 11-year-old James prepared names to take to the temple when he turned 12, and how his efforts made a difference in his family on “both sides of the veil.” Find stories, activities, and more about the temple on this LDS.org Children's Page to enjoy with your family.
*K7-05: Make the Sabbath a Delight by Finding Your AncestorsWatch the video to hear what President Nelson invites us to do on the Sabbath Day. The activities in this section of The Family History Guide give you lots of options and ideas! Your parents might want to plan for the Sabbath Day in a family council, to decide and record what you will do to follow President Nelson’s invitation. Check out Sabbath Day activities on the Family, Individuals, and Youth Latter-Day Saint tabs.
*K7-06: Match Pioneer Songs to PicturesMany of you have ancestors who were part of the trek from the east part of the United States to a new home in the west. All children who are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints share this pioneer heritage. Take this Pioneer Children Quiz to learn more about the pioneers. For help, look at pages 214–223 of the Children’s Songbook.
*K7:07 Family History Sing-AlongPlan a sing-along to learn more about family history. Find songs on the Primary sing-along videos page, including:
*K7-08: Family History ABCsHave fun with this Fill in the Blanks Family History Game to see what you know. There are blanks for every letter of the alphabet from A to Z.
K7-09: Earn Badges for Doing Family History ActivitiesClick here to begin The Family History Quest found in The Friend Magazine. For some of the activities, you will need to visit FamilySearch.org and have an adult sign up for an account for you if you are old enough, or that helper can use his or her sign-in for you. Find more fun activities for The Family History Quest for each month here.
K7:10 Do Indexing to Help with Names for Temple WorkWatch this video to see how Erika celebrated the new San Salvador El Salvador Temple by learning how to do family history indexing and bringing the blessings of the gospel to hundreds of Salvadoran ancestors. (See K7-02 for more information about how to do indexing.)
K7-11: Discover Your StoryWatch the video and then talk with your parents, aunts and uncles, or grandparents to learn stories about your family. Print the page from The Friend Magazine to draw pictures (like cartoons) of a story. How many stories can you add to your family history binder or box you read about in K4-01? For ideas about interviewing relatives, see K5-01 and for help with recording stories, see K5-04.
K7-12: Create A Personal ProfileDo you know what a "profile" is? It’s a page that tells about who you are. It will help family members know more about you for years to come. Every member of your family can create a profile and collect them in your family history box or binder! See the video in K5-02 and read about how to use the booklet My Family: Stories That Bring Us Together.
*K7-13: What President Nelson Teaches About Our AncestorsPresident Nelson shares a powerful personal experience about protection by angels that you can read here, or ask an older person to read it to you. Watch the video "A Visit From Father" to learn about another experience he shares, and read about it here. When you do temple and family history work, you are connecting with and helping those who can also help you!
K7-14: Temple and Family History FHEWatch the video above to see how Brennon is doing his part to further temple and family history work in his part of the world. Plan a family home evening centered on temple and family history work or help a family member to plan a lesson. You can use these resources or these talks, lessons and ideas, and activities from The Family History Guide.
*K7-15: Have Fun with Family History Coloring Pages and BooksTry these fun coloring pages that help you learn about temples and family history. You can print them out from the websites below.
K7-16: More Fun!View games and activities in all of the Activities pages of the Family History Guide for families, individuals, youth, and kids. Check out the FamilySearch Solutions Gallery, and the activities and family home evening ideas on LDS.org. See the Family History Guide YouTube Channel for fun family history activity videos, and have fun learning, doing and sharing family history.
Find more activities here: 1. About Family History 2. My Family Tree 3. Group Fun and Games 4. My Memories 5. Family History Stories 6. Service