Family History Friday (FHF): Games!

I try to make Family History fun for the whole family. Sometimes that's asking a lot. You almost have to get bit by the FH bug to really like it. Like most bug situations, you need to spend time around them (the bugs) to get bit. So if I want my family to like Genealogy/Family History, I need to do it or talk about doing it around them. So I found two ways to do this. I have two fun games that help. One, is my original and one my sister-in-law told me about.

The first one is easy, at least once a week, tell your family a fun story about an ancestor. If you don't know one, ask your parents or grandparents about their parents or grandparents, then write the story down. It also helps to have a pedigree chart mounted to a wall somewhere, so the family sees how they are related to the person. Once you have several stories in your archive, you're ready to play. We usually play this game while we're traveling in the car. Sometimes we even play it on Memorial Day. We visit the cemeteries that our relatives are buried in and talk about them while we're standing by their grave side. So, I call the game "Name that Ancestor!" Usually I start, I say, for example: "I'm thinking of an ancestor who was a fur trader and wrote a journal." Then they guess who it is, "John Sayer".

Fur Traders

They won't know who it is, unless I've talked about that ancestor before. If they guess and they're right, it's their turn to give a glue. If no one knows, then it's a perfect opportunity to tell them the story. Then they will know the next time we play.

The next game is Concentration. This is especially good if those of your family, still living, live far apart from each other. First, get as many pictures of them, living and/or deceased, as you can. They can be small, like a snap shot. Make copies so you have two and you won't ruin the original. Use tape (packing tape in perfect) or use contact paper and attatch them to a 3x5 card, cut in half or something about that size. I like to use the lids from orange juice concentrate (get it? concentrate?) ha ha. They stack really nice and they fit in a empty tennis ball container. Another twist is to put the picture of the ancestor on one lid and their name on the other lid. They make a match when they find the picture and the name that go together.

We are living in a great time, with many opportunities.

Our ancestors walked the path that made it possible

for us to have all that we enjoy now. I want to at least remember them on occasion, and at most, make their memory a part of my everyday life. Happy Family History Friday!

Love, joy