How to Create Family Tree Crafts with Kids

Create family tree crafts to provide a visual representation of your kid's family.

Spending time with kids talking about family is a good way to help them to understand where they came from, and genealogy plays an important role in helping them to understand who they are. When you create family tree crafts with kids, it provides them with a visual representation of their family and its history.

Things You'll Need

• White foam cup
• Dirt
• Branch from tree
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Yarn or string
• Family photos
• Glue
• Ice cream stick

Instructions

Family Tree in a Cup

1. Fill a white foam cup halfway with dirt.

2. Place an empty tree branch in the dirt and press it in until it stands up by itself.

3. Cut out leaf shapes from construction paper. Poke a hole in one end of each leaf shape, and thread a piece of yarn or string through each hole. Tie each piece of string in a knot.

4. Write one name on each leaf representing one family member.

5. Hang the oldest family member’s leaf on the top branch and work your way through all the names of family members.

Collage Family Tree

1. Cut a tree out of construction paper.

2. Find photos of each family member, and let the kids cut out their faces from the photos.

3. Glue the faces onto the tree, and write the name of each individual and how they are related to the child on the back of each face.

Family Tree Puppet Show

1. Assist the kids in writing questions to ask their family members. They can include: "Where were you born?", "What kind of work do you do?", "What is your favorite past time?", or any other question to find out about the relative. According to StoryArts.org, questions about “People, places, events, objects, important transitions, work or travel can be story starters.”

2. Provide an opportunity for the kids to talk to each family member so they can ask their questions. When people know that others show interest in them, they will begin telling stories to answer the questions.

3. Find a photo of each family member and glue them onto ice cream sticks.

4. Sit on one end of the dining room table and let the kids kneel below the other side. The table is now the stage for the puppet show.

5. Tell the kids to lift up each member of the family and tell their story in a family tree puppet show.

References

• Story Arts.: Collecting Family Stories

Resources

• GenWriters: Genealogy and Family History for Children
• Genealogy: Family History Summer Fun for Kids