20 Family History Activities for Your Family Reunion
Family reunions are the perfect place to inspire your family to love family history. Try some of these family history activities at your next family reunion!
Family Tree Gathering
“…(E)veryone would bring existing family histories, stories, and photos, including cherished possessions of grandparents and parents…young people are excited to learn about the lives of family members—where they came from and how they lived…They love the stories and photos, and they have the technological expertise to scan and upload these stories and photos…and connect source documents with ancestors to preserve these for all time.” (idea from Quentin L. Cook)
2. Sources to Stories
Each family or individual picks an ancestor to research before the family reunion. They collect photos, documents and resources, learning as much as they can about their ancestor. At the family reunion each family or individual shares what they learned about the ancestor they researched.
3. Learn/sing family songs
Families have songs that are significant from weddings, military service, funerals, holidays, childhood, while camping or songs that they just listened to or sang together. Have a song night at your family reunion where you learn or sing songs that were significant in your family. Make a playlist.
4. Poem or Song Contest
Have a poem or song contest at your family reunion. To make it non-competitive make it an ‘open mic night’ where family members read their poem or sing the song they wrote.
5. Map Decoration
Meaningful family reunion decorations are hard to come by but a giant map will be a hit! Put pins in the map of where ancestors’ were from or places that were significant in their lives.
6. Skit Night
Have a skit night and perform ancestor stories. Skits can be prepared by individual families before the family reunion or you can break everyone into groups at the reunion to create the skit there. If ancestor stories are widely known then each group or family can choose their own. If stories are not widely known, assign a story to each group that they can turn into a skit. Record the skits. Keep the scripts so they can be performed again.
7. Make Christmas Ornaments
What You Will Need:
A copy of a photo of each of your ancestors’ faces
The same number of canning lids as photos
A pencil or pen
Scissors
Decoupage
A paint brush
A nail
A hammer
Thin ribbon or string
A permanent marker
Instructions:
Use a canning lid to trace a circle on one of the copied photos, around the face of your ancestor.
Cut out the circles slightly smaller than the traced circle so the photo will fit inside the ridge of the lid.
Use the paint brush to spread decoupage on the lid.
With the photo-side facing you, press the photo gently in the center of the lid.
Paint decoupage on top of the photo and over the edge of the photo to seal it onto the lid. Set the lid aside to dry.
Repeat with each lid and photo.
When the decoupage is dried, use the nail and hammer to make a hole in the top of each ornament.
On the back of the canning lid, use a permanent marker to write information, such as your ancestor’s name, birth and death dates, where he or she lived, relation to you, or any other details you want to remember.
Put a piece of ribbon or string through the hole and tie it in a bow.
The ornament is now ready to hang!
8. Family T-Shirts with Family Crest
If your family has a family crest, use it on your family reunion shirt. If not, have a family crest drawing contest before the reunion and let family members submit designs for a family crest. Use the winner’s design on your family reunion shirt.
9. Family Interviews
Each person at your family reunion, both young and old, can interview another family member in attendance. Have each person draw another family member’s name out of a hat and interview whoever they chose. You can share a list of ideas for interview questions if desired. Young children can participate too. The questions for them can be simple and they can draw the answers (example: What is your favorite game? food? book from childhood? etc). Compile or share what is learned about each family member.
10. Ancestor Bingo
Game nights at your family reunion are sure to be a hit, especially when it is meaningful and especially when there are prizes! Give each player a blank bingo card. Distribute multiple copies of the branch of your family tree that those at your reunion have in common. Have participants write one name from the tree on each square of their blank bingo card. Write each ancestor on the family tree’s name on a small piece of paper and put in a bowl. The leader will pick an ancestor’s name out of the bowl and players can use any small object to mark that name on their card. It is nice to have interesting facts about some of the ancestors that can be shared throughout the game. Have simple prizes on a table for winners to choose from. (Young children can participate by teaming up with a parent.)
11. Family and Ancestor Playlist
Background music at your family reunion is a must! Make a playlist of each person’s favorite song . Ask older relatives about the music that their parents and grandparents listened to and add those too. They may know specific songs or they may just remember a genre of music. To add even more songs, go further back on your tree and find out what music was popular in the homeland of your ancestors while they were alive.
12. Create a Family Cookbook
Before the family reunion ask everyone to contribute ancestor’s recipes as well as their favorite family recipes. Compile before the reunion and distribute them at the reunion.
13. Generations Project
A generations project is an experience that you have or project that you do that helps you connect with an ancestor. It can be learning a skill that an ancestor had, going to a place where they would go (or a place similar), doing a tradition or making a recipe. While doing the project, share about the ancestor and discus what can be learned about them from the experience. (idea based on the BYUTV show ‘Generations Project’)
14. Scavenger Hunt
(idea from Lynette Cummings - best for a family reunion close to where ancestors lived)
Before you begin, assign points to each of the items on your scavenger hunt list (more points for longer activities). Decide how long it will last and where you will meet at the end. Divide into groups and give each group a list of tasks to earn points. Decide on requiring photos, videos or signatures to prove the task was accomplished. At the end of the allotted time, teams should be at the meeting place. The team who has earned the most points wins, but really you all win because you have learned about your family along the way.
Here are some ideas of things you can do on your hunt:
Find a grave in a cemetery and make a rubbing or read a story about that person
Put together a puzzle with a family photo or ancestor face on it (you can order specialized puzzles online or make your own)
Do something that your ancestors would have done (lasso a sawhorse, change a cloth diaper, haul buckets of water or wash clothes and hang them on a clothesline)
Tell someone you don’t know a story about one of your ancestors
Find a house that an ancestor lived in (using only a photo and maybe a hint about where to look if it’s a large area) then read a story or listen to a CD that tells a story of the people who lived there
Do something your family did when you were kids
Dress up in old fashioned clothes and take a photo
Sing a song or read a poem that was important to an ancestor
If you are doing this at an extended family reunion add the following:
Find someone who knew a certain ancestor
Find someone who has lived in that town for at least 30 years
Meet 5 people you don’t know
15. Story Time
Story time can be for any age. At your family reunion, have a time designated for family members to share stories of ancestors. It will probably be best to give each person a time limit. If the story time is for children, bring props and keep it simple and digestible.
16. Item Box
Collect items that represent a specific ancestor and put them in a box. These items can be mentioned in stories or journals of that ancestor. Let kids take turns picking an item and tell the story that is related to the item.
17. Quiz Night
Create a trivia game, in the form of Jeopardy or Trivial Pursuit, with facts about your ancestors. Break your family into teams and play!
18. Family Field Trip
If your family reunion is being held in or near a place where ancestors lived, a family field trip would be a must! Plan an outing to an old church, cemetery, old house, historical museum, living museum or any place that would be interesting for your family to visit.
19. Homeland Game
Look up games that were played in the homeland of your ancestors and play one.
20. Ancestor Celebration
Choose an ancestral country or ancestral family to highlight. Plan food and activities that will hightlight that country or family.