Weekly Planner: Family History Jobs for Kids

At this time of year, everyone in our house is going a little stir crazy. After the umpteenth “I’m bored” last weekend, I followed in my mom’s footsteps and hired my daughter for some family history chores. Back in the 70s, we were the only family on the block with a microfilm reader in the basement, and Mom used to pay my sisters and me a quarter for every family member we found as we scrolled through Brooklyn census microfilms. Now I can sit my daughter down in front of the computer and have her try her hand at searching Ancestry.com. I’m working on attaching records to my online tree so that when it comes time to create a family history book, the records are attached and download into MyCanvas seamlessly. Other “chores” I have in store include scanning family photographs, labeling current photos, and catching up on that never-ending filing.

Scrolling through microfilm all those years ago is what sparked my interest in family history. I’m hoping that the same will be true for my daughter. Perhaps there is a child you know that would be willing to help you. By enlisting them we can create another generation of family historians.

4 thoughts on “Weekly Planner: Family History Jobs for Kids

  1. I think this is a great idea! I took my then 8 year old daughter with me last summer on several trips to the cemetery looking for relatives graves. She loved the challenge. I would list off several family names we were looking for and we would split up and search the rows, chanting the names until we found our family members. (I wanted to document which cemetery my relatives were in and give some kind of land mark.) It sure beats the kids playing video games all summer! She learned a lot about our family and I plan on taking her with me again when it warms up, I can’t wait!

  2. It’s going to be a while before she finishes the multitude of tasks that wait for her here. The filing piles are getting mighty tall in my office. 😉

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