1. Anytime Activities   2. Plan-Ahead Activities   3. Making Family History   4. Documenting the Past   5. Social Media Activities   6. Service Activities   7. Activities for Research   8. Latter-day Saint Activities   9. 5-Minute Ideas for Latter-day Saints     Individuals    Youth    Kids Corner   |    Index       Translation Tips    Music      Print Friendly and PDF











Family Activities


3. Making Family History

* Family  |   Individuals  |   Youth  |   Children


With a bit of planning and a list of ideas, family history activities can become part of your everyday lives and unite your family in remarkable ways. Try some of the activities described on this page and see how your past and present can come together. As you do, you can strengthen family relationships, build your family tree, and make fun family memories.

3. Making Family History

Overview: One of the joys of family history is making it personal to your family. These activities help you put your own stamp on your family history and make it memorable.

Activities marked by an asterisk (*) take little or no prep time.


*F3-01: Time Capsule
Try this approach to making a family time capsule that future generations can enjoy and use to learn about your family.
*F3-02: Family Journal
Create a lasting record of your comings and goings, the guests who visit your home, the events and holiday celebrations and share being scribe with the whole family. Learn more In Trina Holden's article 24 Ways and Reasons to Keep a Family Journal and in this blog post.
F3-03: Generation Photo Collage
Create a photo collage, starting with an ancestor and going down to you. Get more ideas in this blog article.
F3-04: Family Tradition
Learn how to use available technology to make a documentary about one of your favorite family traditions.
*F3-05: Take a Family Quiz
How well do you know your family? Create a quiz and have your family members answer the questions along with you. Find the answers you don't yet know and preserve what you learn. See a sample quiz on the Make Family History website. Try making a quiz for each family line. Another idea for your living family or ancestors is a matching game with the names (and/or photos) and something unique about each one to match to the right person.
F3-06: Make an Audio Documentary or Podcast
Learn how to make an audio collection about a family tradition on the Make Family History website. Check out Make Radio About Your Family to learn how to record stories. Find instructions to add audio files to FamilySearch here. Learn how to make a family podcast in this article, and read about a fun, creative podcast idea here.
*F3-07: Digital Family Museum
Collect photographs and stories about your family heirlooms. Get additional ideas in this magazine article.
F3-08: "History of Your Family" Videos
Learn how to create them in this article by Lisa Louise Cooke. Watch the video above for an example.
F3-09: Virtual House Tour
Learn how to create a virtual tour of your house. Then save a digital copy of the tour that your family can enjoy.
F3-10: Storytelling Marathon
Plan a story-telling marathon complete with pillows, blankets, grandparents and yummy goodies! In preparation, you may want to read this article from The Family Locket site: Strengthening Children Through Family History: Bruce Feiler's Tips from RootsTech 2016. Don't forget that you can include others remotely; see ideas here.

F3-11: Memory Jars
  1. Select one or more of your parents or grandparents that you would like to bring "good cheer."
  2. Create a memory jar for each person you select. Work on memories for just one individual at a time.
  3. Give family members about 10 slips of paper. Have them write a short favorite memory about the selected person on each slip of paper.
    4. After all family members have written their memories, fold or roll the papers and place them in a jar. (You can Google "memory jars" if you would like some creative, decorative ideas.)
  4. Present the jar with its "good cheer" memories to your loved one—this could be a great birthday gift idea.


Find more activities here:  1. Anytime Activities and Games   2. Plan-Ahead Activities   4. Documenting the Past   5. Social Media Activities   6. Service Activities   7. Activities for Research   8. Latter-day Saint Activities