A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS! USE PICTURES TO INSPIRE CHILDREN TO LOVE FAMILY HISTORY!

Ask family members (grandparents, grandparents’ siblings, parents, aunts and uncles, cousins, etc) what pictures they have. The more people you ask, the more you will find. You can ask family members for physical or digital copies of these pictures. Another great way to find pictures is on websites such as familysearch.org and ancestry.com. You may find that distant relatives have already uploaded pictures of your ancestors. Pictures can also be found in old newspaper articles.

Looking at a picture of an ancestor can tell a lot about him or her. Children can become picture detectives to see what they can figure out about their ancestors by looking at pictures. Even if they know nothing about an ancestor and have a picture of him or her, they can learn something and sometimes a lot. Here are some clues to look for when investigating a picture:

What is in the background? - Do you see a house, a boat, the forest, a picture on a wall? The background may show where the person liked to be or what the family did together.

What are they doing? What is happening? - Are they having a picnic; fishing; ice skating; or celebrating a birthday, anniversary or holiday?

Who are they with? - Are they with family members, friends, animals, or someone famous?

What are they wearing? - Are they wearing military clothing, work clothing, sports clothing, or farming clothing?

Toddlers and Young Children Alternatives: To engage toddlers and young children, you can play “I Spy.” Look at a picture and say “I spy with my little eye something that is ____.” They can try to find it and when they do, it is their turn to repeat the phrase and the adult finds what they see. You may be surprised with the details children notice.

Look for pictures of the male line in your family for a son or the female line for a daughter as far back as you can find them. Next, find or buy a frame with that many spots for photos. The frame can be a circular frame up and down or side ways. Put the pictures in the frame in the following order: a daughter, her mother, her grandmother, her great-grandmother, her great-great-grandmother and her great-great-great-grandmother, etc. It can be as simple as a daughter and her mother or it can go back for many generations. Notice resemblances and mannerisms. Similarities go from one generation to the next or they may skip generations. A child can assemble a generations picture for him or herself or it can be a great gift to them.

Look through pictures you have collected, for interesting and telling pictures to display. Put up pictures that tell something about your ancestors. What pictures will catch your child’s interest? Family pictures are great because when you look at them you can see which ancestors made up a family. Be ready to answer questions that children will ask about them. When they ask questions, tell them details about the individuals that have caught their interest. This may trigger more interest and sometimes more questions. Children will get to know their ancestors through the moments captured in the pictures.

Choose an old family photo or photo of an individual ancestor. Have family members dress up as your ancestors to recreate the photo. Take a new picture and look at them side by side!

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