Getting your kids involved in researching your ancestral history is a great way to bond with your kids as well as teach your kids about your family history.  It also gives the parents time to spend quality time with their kids.  It can be a fun and entertaining project. 

Start by writing down your own name, birth date, place of birth, parents, husband, wife (or domestic partner), date of marriage, place of marriage, children’s complete names and their dates of birth. The easiest way to get all this information in an organized manner would be to fill out a family information sheet.  These can be found many places on the internet. One of the most used sites to locate this sheet is www.ancestry.com. 

Getting your children to help you fill these forms out will enable your kids to learn everything about their own families.  Some kids will find this to be boring, so it’s up to the parents to make this job fun.  Many parents do this by sharing stories about their wedding, or how they met their spouse, or something silly their father did in college that made you start dating him.  This will give the kids a chance to learn about your history, as well as allow you to reminisce about the old days.  Be prepared for your kids to think you are weird and strange, and also be prepared for them to laugh.  You did it to your parents and you will be cursed by them doing it to you, so just be prepared.  

Once you get all your sheets done, you may want to get the sheets for your parents, siblings, grandparents and other family members going as far back as you can remember.  Call some family members if you have too.  They usually don’t mind sharing.  If nothing else, they will be glad to hear from you, and once you tell them why you are calling, they may even do the same thing.

Now when you are doing your parents charts, do the same thing.  Tell your kids stories about growing up.  This sounds really corny, but it will be a good bonding experience.  They are your legacy; you will live forever through them.  Shouldn’t more than just your DNA be immortalized?  Tell them stories about your parents and grandparents when you were growing up.  They may realize they don’t have it as bad as they think.

Once you get all this information, you may consider taking a trip to the library.  Most public libraries have a genealogy department where you can research your family names.  If nothing else you can teach your kids all about the library and how it works and what to do there. 

Another good place to do some research is ancestry.com.  This website is one of the most popular tools for researching your family history.

No matter how you do it, or where you get the information from, involving your kids in researching the family history can be a great educational experience, for both you and your kids.  You will get to tell them stories about your past.  Your parents probably also have some stories to share.  Your kids may even tell you some stories of their own.  It can be a fun, educational, and bonding experience.

Learning one’s history can also bring about a pride that was not there before.  You learn about family crests and family colors.  Your kids will learn that they are not just a name, but someone with a history.  You may be able to trace your family back to a knight or a king or someone great.  If your kids know where they come from and who they came from, they can walk proud of where they came from. 

Once you are done with your project, you should put it something that will last for years.  You can give it to your children later in life, when they can add to it with their own family.  They can continue where you left off, making the bond and pride stronger.  They can share it with their children and their children’s children, making it a family tradition; a family tradition that you started.  That should make you proud.

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