“Whatcha doing?” “Can I help?” Two of the best opening lines to hear when getting the kids involved in the never ending saga of the Family Tree . Small children have short attention spans. Give them tasks that won’t overwhelm them. A chore they can walk away from when the attraction of getting to help, wanes. They will get frustrated, be disruptive and want to quit if the the task does not interest them.
Have some fun and make a game out of their assignment. Start them with the box of photos that need sorting. The plan might be to sort by photos taken of individuals, group pictures and pets. From the first stack of twenty pictures, let the child choose the person they want to look for. They need to know that if they don’t recognize someone that it is all right. Be sure to tell them that whatever help they can give is appreciated, and, to thank them when they finish.
Another task a younger child may be capable of doing is going through photo albums. They can bookmark the pages that have pictures of weddings or other chosen events. Colour coding book marks to specific topics will be helpful for quick reference in the future. The child can insert coloured paper markers on the appropriate pages of the albums. A job they can do without causing any damage to the pages or pictures.
Children are never too young or too old to contribute in some way to the archives of the family. When they ask to help, let them. It may only be long enough to go through one stack of twenty pictures; and, they might not want to be of help every time. Yet, making it fun by giving them a job they can handle has planted a seed in a future keeper of the Family Tree.
Are you hooked on genealogy and preserving your family history?
Have some fun and make a game out of their assignment. Start them with the box of photos that need sorting. The plan might be to sort by photos taken of individuals, group pictures and pets. From the first stack of twenty pictures, let the child choose the person they want to look for. They need to know that if they don’t recognize someone that it is all right. Be sure to tell them that whatever help they can give is appreciated, and, to thank them when they finish.
Another task a younger child may be capable of doing is going through photo albums. They can bookmark the pages that have pictures of weddings or other chosen events. Colour coding book marks to specific topics will be helpful for quick reference in the future. The child can insert coloured paper markers on the appropriate pages of the albums. A job they can do without causing any damage to the pages or pictures.
Children are never too young or too old to contribute in some way to the archives of the family. When they ask to help, let them. It may only be long enough to go through one stack of twenty pictures; and, they might not want to be of help every time. Yet, making it fun by giving them a job they can handle has planted a seed in a future keeper of the Family Tree.
Are you hooked on genealogy and preserving your family history?
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