Grandparents and grandchildren, together, design and create a family tree with pictures of each member. This activity creates a great opportunity for your grandchildren to literally attach a face to the names of family members that have come before them. If you need some help searching for ancestors, try an Ancestry.com Free Trial where you can find many, many data bases.

While working on this project, grandparents have the opportunity to share stories about their children’s and their childhoods connecting them with bits of history along the way. Grandchildren have a chance to ask questions and relate their experiences, too. Such projects bring grandparents and grandchildren closer together. This craft activity with grandchildren can be included as part of the family story project. (Read

Grandparents and Grandchildren Day, March 18 post for details and link.) The Grandchildren’s Family Tree Poem follows the family tree directions below:

1. Decide how many generations and family members you wnat to include (see note below).
2. Choose pictures of family members (grandparents, parents, child and siblings, others).
   • Make copies so you can keep the originals
   • If you don’t have the pictures you need, ask family members to make copies and donate them for your project, plus information you want to include
3. Decide how large you want to make your tree - measurements need to fit into a frame or shadow box
4. Together, draw your design on plain paper - tree, colors, placements of pictures
5. Measure a piece of foam board, otague, or construction paper to fit inside the frame
6. Draw, trace, cut out:
   • pieces of brown for the trunk and branches
   • pieces for the leaves in shades of green
   • red apple hearts for the background of each picture
7. Trace a circle around each face and cut out
8. Stop! Before you glue, decide where all pieces and pictures will be placed
9. Think: will you write or add typed names and dates - get them ready and place under each picture - make sure they match!
10. Add flowers, rabbits, sun, etc. to the picture as you like or leave it as is.
11. Now, take the pieces and group them by layer.
12. Starting with the bottom layer, carefully, glue everything in place - allow to dry.
13. Remember to include your names and the date you made your tree - place it on the bottom of the tree or on the back of the frame.
14. After the tree has completely dried, insert it into the frame.

Now you have an intergenerational family heirloom!

Note:

• you might want to leave room for new siblings or another generation
• if your frame and tree are large enough, you can add uncles, aunts, cousins
• insert inside the back of the frame a laminated typed list of name, dates, place of birth, and interesting information about each person
• grandparent and grandchild each writes a journal entry about the activity and includes that inside the back
• make additional trees and give them as gifts

Grandchildren’s Family Tree Poem (author unknown)

I have a family.
I love them. Yes I do.
We belong together.
And I know they love me too!

The people in my family,
They belong to me.
And we are all part of
The same family tree!

Check back on Tuesdays for new poems and Wednesdays for new activities.  Have a poem or activity or event grandparents and grandchildren would enjoy? Email it to me at nanascorner07@gmail.com and I’ll post it for you.