Things You'll Need:
- Butcher Paper
- Good Quality Ink
- Ruler or Tape Measure
- Optional: Recording Device
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Step 1
Gather the information necessary to draw your family tree diagram. Talk to your relatives about their ancestors. Take notes or record the conversations so that you don't forget any details. Ask a lot of questions. Find out who married who, who moved where, and what happened to all the children and cousins. Research back as far as your living relatives can remember.
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Step 2
Organize your notes backwards. You will start drawing your family tree diagram as far back as you can research, and work your way up to the present. Organize your notes generation by generation.
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Step 3
Woman and ManFemales are represented as circles, and males as triangles in family tree diagrams. (Some people use squares for the males.) Write under each shape the person's name, year of birth, and year of death if deceased.
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Step 4
Couple with ChildrenDraw a horizontal line between people to indicate they are married. Draw their children underneath the married couple, all connected to the parents with lines. (Indicate divorce with two slashes between the couple.)
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Step 5
Notice that each generation has its own horizontal line on the page. Maintain this order as you draw the many generations in your family tree diagram.
