Connecting Children to their Ancestors, Swiftie Style

The reason I got into family history was to help my own children understand where they came from. I wanted to create approchable ways to connect with their heritage and ancestry. Since I work with the children in our church congregation, I jumped at the chance to help plan an activity related to family history.

Since our age group ranges in age from 3 to 11, we needed an activity that everyone could easily do and be interested in. When another leader brought up “ties that bind” I immediately thought of friendship bracelets. The bracelets that I’m sure these children have seen are those popularized by “Swifties” made with letter and color beads, each with a unique message. What’s more unique than a bracelet featuring the name of your ancestor?

The bracelet is a fun connection, but it’s meaningless if they don’t know anything about the person whose name they’re wearing. Prior to the activity, I sent each child home with a worksheet to fill out with a family member about their chosen ancestor. I firmly believe that we retain information better when we teach it to others, so they brought this paper with them to the activity and we had a little family history “show and tell.”

Click the image below to download the worksheet as a pdf.

Once everyone was able to share a little snippet of their ancestor, we solidified their connection with the handmade bracelets. Thankfully we had a lot of adults in attendance to help the smaller children with assembling their new jewelry using clear stretch cord, alphabet beads, and pony beads.

Because we had around 15 children involved, we didn’t want to spend a lot of time having each child choose all their own beads. I pre-packaged pony beads by color so the children could grab a bag in their color of choice. It also included two beads with hearts on them and a section of pre-cut thin elastic cord.

While the children were telling about their ancestor, I pulled the alphabet beads for each relative’s name how I hoped it was spelled and set each aside. When the child came to the table to choose their bead bag, I asked how their ancestor’s name was spelled and edited my bead choice accordingly. They then created their friendship bracelet with their relative’s name.

The trickiest part of the entire process? Tying the bracelets! Elastic stretch cord is super slick and knots don’t like to stay tied. Here’s what we learned:

• Start with a far longer length of cord than you think you need. The more you have to work with, the less likely you are to lose your grip on the cord. We had to re-string A LOT of bracelets.

• Pre-stretch your cord before stringing the beads. It helps prevent the grip loss.

• Don’t use a typical square knot. Because the cord has no grip, it just slides apart. Instead, line up the two ends and, using both strands, tie an overhand knot. (For a visual tutorial of an overhand knot with just one strand, visit Animated Knots.)

If you decide to do this activity on a smaller scale, get creative with your beads and design. Use varied sizes and colors to customize this visual connection to your ancestor.

Ancestral Wood Slice Ornaments

I was looking through my craft supplies last year and found a bag of unused wood slices. I had seen artists on Instagram paint these gorgeous scenes on similar pieces to create Christmas ornaments, so I thought I’d give it a shot.

My painting skills are nothing special, so I tried to find inspiration that wouldn’t make me toss my paintbrush across the room. My ancestors are from England, Wales, and Denmark and my husband’s are from Scandinavian countries. I decided to focus on Nordic imagery for my ornaments.

I searched for seasonal Nordic folk art and attempted to recreate some of the simpler themes.

I had forgotten about this process until I was asked to be in charge of an ancestral-focused church activity for the girls aged 12-17. I placed a quick order from Amazon for wood slices and acrylic paint markers (less mess!) and prayed they’d arrive in time.

I thought this would make for a perfect holiday activity that could also educate them about their heritage. I asked each where the majority of their ancestors were from, either regionally or country of origin. Based on their answers, I dug into research for common folk art from each.

France

In both painting and needlework, there were many examples of Breton dancers, originating in Brittany, the Celtic region of France.

If you’ve heard the term “tole painting,” it stems from a French process of decorating tin or iron pieces. They’re commonly decorated with floral motifs and strokework.

Germany

This is more regional, but Edelweiss is a national symbol of Romania, Austria, Bulgaria, Slovenia, and Switzerland. It is found in remote mountain areas and, according to folk tradition, giving this flower to a loved one is a promise of dedication.

Traditional Bavarian costumes appear in much of Germany’s folk art with decorative jackets and aprons.

Ireland

The Celtic Tree of Life stemmed from actual trees that communities would leave in the center of town when they settled the land. It would provide shelter, a gathering place, and nourishment for animals, birds, insects, etc.

I used this heart to represent all Celtic Knots, but most have no beginning or end. Because of this, they commonly stand for eternity, whether it be loyalty, faith, friendship, or love.

Italy

Tin-glazed earthenware pottery was created primarily in Faience and Delft. Both it and the majority of Italian folk art uses a white, blue, and yellow color palette.

Russia

Matryoshka (little matron) Dolls, or nesting dolls, are highly recognizable as Russian folk art. When the early nesting dolls were created, all of them were presented with females as their biggest dolls. The main symbols of the matryoshka dolls were of depicting a woman’s fertility and their motherhood.

Petrykivka is a traditional Ukrainian decorative painting style originating in the village of Petrykivka, Ukraine, where it was traditionally used to decorate house walls and everyday household items. The distinctive features of this folk art style are its flower patterns and brush techniques.

Scandinavia

Post-Vikings, peaceful, nature-related motifs overtook Scandinavian folk art. They were full of flower, bird and human motifs, often referred to Scandinavian tales, legends and fables.

The dalecarlian horse, or dala horse, is a carved, painted wooden statue that was primarily used as a toy for children. It’s now become a symbol of Sweden.

Scotland

The Dress Act of 1746 attempted to bring warrior clans under government control by banning the tartan and other aspects of Gaelic culture. When the law was repealed in 1782, it was no longer ordinary Highland dress, but was adopted instead as the symbolic national dress of Scotland.

The Scottish Thistle is the national symbol for Scotland, representing bravery, devotion, durability, strength, and determination.

Wales

The lovespoon is said to have originated in Wales and was given to a young woman by her suitor, showing her father that the young man was able to provide for his future family through woodworking.

Gaudy Welsh pottery came about after World War II from American collectors. It was meant to signify Welsh ancestry. It’s known for its underglaze of cobalt blue, pink lustre, and russet. Many wouldn’t think of fancy pottery as folk art, but it wasn’t mass-produced, so it was made by small, regional companies.

(I didn’t include England in the mix since much of the folk art from there is represented in other countries. Also, there were a lot of farm animals. A. Lot.)

If your ancestral countries weren’t mentioned, do a search for folk art in that region. I learned quite a bit of why particular colors and mediums were used and how much has carried over into modern works of art.

Family Histories Made Simple

I am incredibly blessed to have a binder full of histories of my ancestors. It’s an amazing resource, but one I don’t often take advantage of. Unless I’m curious about a particular family member, the collection typically sits on a shelf, unused and unopened. When I wanted to teach my children about their ancestors, I knew the binder had the answers within it, but wasn’t the approachable medium I needed. It was time to get creative and make my own. I’ll show you the steps I took to make a book full of facts, memories, and photos that my family has come to treasure.

Step 1: Collect Information

I opened a document and typed out the names of those closest to me, working backward. I started with my parents, then their parents, and so on. I included birth and death dates and locations. Next, I researched each ancestor to see how much information I could get from either my binder, or Memories in Family Search. The goal was to find five interesting tidbits on each ancestor’s life.

When I got back a few generations, I couldn’t always find stories, just facts. That’s when I had to utilize vital records to create a story of their life. For help with framing a narrative when you don’t have stories, see my post on Putting the Pieces Together.

I only had census and emigration records to learn about John Gibbs.

Step 2: Collect Photos

Because photos can be difficult to come by, I limited each ancestor to two images. When the photos weren’t at a high enough resolution to print, I kept them small but on a larger background using an app like Rhonna Designs.

I used Rhonna Designs to load a smaller photo onto a 4” x 6” image and saved it to my photos.

If I had multiple images to choose from, I tried to find one when they were older and one when they were younger. Below are the ones I chose for my maternal grandmother.

Step 3: Design Your Pages

Once your information and images are collected, it’s time to design them into pages. I used Becky Higgins’ Project Life. Becky has created a simple way to organize your memories and lay them out in a clean, well-designed way. You can use the digital desktop version, but you will need Photoshop Elements. Because I use my phone and tablet so much, I downloaded the app and used that version of Project Life.

Because I was going to include so many pages in this book, I simplified things and used the same layout for each ancestor, changing the color for each gender. When I was ready to input text and images, I made a copy of my layout, renamed it with my ancestor’s name, and uploaded their information.

Step 4: Print Your Book

After I completed a page for every ancestor (all 71 of them!), I decided to compile them into a book using a local (to me) company I’m very familiar with — Chatbooks. Project Life also has an ordering option through their app, I just haven’t used it before.

I used the Rhonna Designs app to design the book cover.

Chatbooks allows me to send my family a link to the completed project so they can order a copy for themselves. So simple!

I hope you take advantage of the histories you have to create something your own family will treasure.

Family History Bingo

My favorite website for family and personal history is definitely Family Search. They offer so many different ways to learn about your ancestry. From facts about the countries of your heritage to seeing which ancestor you most resemble, they provide varied opportunities to connect to your family. To make learning more about your ancestors (and the site) more fun, I created a downloadable Family History bingo sheet.

This sheet is meant to help you get to know your ancestors a little better. Don’t worry if you don’t get a “blackout” or even a “bingo.” It’s not a competition, just a fun way to learn about your family.

If you’re a pro researcher, this may be simple for you. For the rest of us, here are some hints on how to find this info.

1. The Family Search homepage can help you find recommended tasks.

2. To learn where an ancestor was married/sealed, use the “Discover Your Ancestor’s Temple” resource.

3. Your Fan Chart provides dates, locations, and even which of your ancestors have photos.

4. Visiting “All Activities” provides A LOT of research resources.

5. Though most of the information is found through Family Search, you may need to visit Relative Finder, a site provided by BYU, to learn more about who you’re related to. Just sign in with your Family Search account.

6. If you’re wondering if your ancestor needed a mustache cup, you may want to compare him to my 2nd great grandfather on this blog post.

Click on the image below to open a printable pdf in a new window.

Let me know if you use this card to learn more about your relatives. I’d love to hear if you learned something new!

Sharing an Heirloom with the World

My parents had a curio cabinet filled with heirlooms, photos, and mementos. I don’t remember how old I was when I noticed the mug, but I remember thinking it looked like a grownup sippy cup. I asked my mom what it was. Turns out it was a mustache cup that belonged to my 2nd great grandfather.

I had no idea what a mustache cup was. She explained that when men had bushy mustaches, they used these cups to keep them clean and dry while they drank. I understood immediately why they were needed after my mom showed me a picture of my ancestor, Williams Peter Camp, Sr.

Williams Peter Camp Sr.

I wasn’t sure how the cup ended up with our family instead of one of my aunts and uncles, but what I do know is that after my parents pass, only one of my siblings is getting the mustache cup.

When heirlooms are passed down from generation to generation, it happens because a story is associated with them. When the story is gone, the heirloom becomes another item to dust and it ends up being donated or thrown away.

Frankly, I don’t care about getting the mustache cup. What I care to keep is the memory associated with it. If I take a picture of the cup, record what it is and who it belonged to, I can upload that to FamilySearch in the Memories section for Williams Peter Camp Sr. That allows ALL of his descendants to see the cup, read the story, and connect with him.

My responsibility at church involves helping the young women ages 11-18 experience family history. This week, I asked them to bring a personal heirloom—something with meaning that they would pass down to their children. I set up a lightbox and we took pictures of each item. They were then able to upload them to their personal memories on FamilySearch with a description of what it was and why it’s important.

Now they’re empowered to do the same thing for their ancestors’ heirlooms. All these were taken with my phone, so it doesn’t take a fancy camera or special skills. You don’t need a lightbox either. Just get some white posterboard and go by a window with good lighting. (South-facing windows are great.) Make sure your background is simple so the item stands out. You can even photograph things on the posterboard. If the lighting is uneven, use the posterboard to reflect light on the opposite side of the window. You’re now ready for your heirloom photo shoot.

Don’t forget to attach the memory to the photo when uploading it. Without the story, the item is worth far less. With it all uploaded to FamilySearch, all of your ancestors’ descendants can feel more connected to the item and their family.