- A family tree gives children a visual aid to assist in understanding family relationships and the role of ancestors in their genealogy. As children mature, they begin to ask questions about family members and their relationships to those people. Figuring out your relationship to each person can be confusing for those children with large extended families, diverse families, or families with members living too far away for frequent visits. The family tree includes the names of each child born to a set of parents. A child might see his parents with their brothers and sisters, grandparents with their brothers and sisters, and great-grandparents with their brothers and sisters, all at a glance. Some family trees show only a few generations, while others go back hundreds of years.
- People who live in the United States have a variety of cultural heritage. Children are encouraged to take pride in and embrace their cultural diversity. Looking at the family tree can help children understand where some of their family's traditions. They are able to know where these traditions originated once they know where their ancestors migrated from and when. Some children may want to study the countries and cultures of their ancestors. This knowledge may be beneficial to the child's self-actualization, self-identity, and cultural identity.
- The family tree presents a visual timeline for children. A child studying history may notice at a glance which ancestors took part in major battles. Further study may reveal actual military records. Children curious about when ancestors migrated to America can look at the family tree to find their first ancestors born in America. Older children studying science may be curious about the lifespan of ancestors. Some factors of life expectancy are hereditary and discovering the average age of your ancestors at their deaths may affect a child's choices for things like exercise and healthy eating.
- Some family trees indicate where ancestors were born once they were in the USA. Armed with this knowledge, children can find census records on the Internet. They may be able to find out which relatives were landowners, what their occupations were, and when they were married. Death records, birth records, marriage records, and property deeds can be found if a child has the desire to search for this information. Some children wonder if they look like any of their ancestors. Some of these records even contain personal attributes such as eye color, hair color, and height. They may even discover someone famous among their ancestors.
