It has been a little while since I have created a genealogy activity that gets back to the basics of teaching children about who is in their family tree and how they are related to those people. Grandparents are treasured members of a child's extended family from the day they are born, so I decided to create a simple 'Grandparent Butterfly' template that can be used for a couple of activities, which I will explain below.
The template consists of a simple butterfly body and, when you cut the two hearts down the middle, four butterfly, 'wings.' The simplest way in which to use this template is to write a person's name on the butterfly body, and then write the name of one of the person's four grandparents on each wing. You could even add photos to the butterfly wings, if you have them. Encourage your children to use their creativity when coloring the butterfly parts. Then, glue the parts together and display them somewhere in your home. This is an easy family home evening idea that can get your children talking about their grandparents and learning their grandparents' birth names, something that most younger children do not know.
And make sure you and your spouse make one as well, and explain to your children how your grandparents are their GREAT-grandparents. If you want to make the activity more of a challenge for older children, give them a name of an ancestor from farther back in your family tree, and see if they can make a butterfly with that person's grandparents. It's sure to get them looking at pedigree charts!
I also think this could be a GREAT activity/game to use at family reunions or any other large family group gatherings:
1.) Each family member is given a butterfly body, on which is written one family member's or ancestor's name.
2.) Scattered in a pile, or hidden around the house or other gathering place, are butterfly ‘wings,’ on each of which is written the name of another family member, alive or deceased, who are or were grandparents. Because one person might be grandparent to many people, make sure you have multiple copies of that person’s name written on wings. Use maiden names for the women.
3.) The goal is for each person to find the four grandparents of the person whose name is written on the butterfly’s body. Rules are up to you; you can have people work in teams or individually. I would definitely partner younger children with a teen or adult.
4.) Color the butterfly parts before gluing on the wings, and display them together for everyone to see. You could put them on a large poster board, a length of butcher paper, or string them into a colorful bunting.
The family reunion game will require more planning and maybe even some research, because some people's grandparents will not be blood-relatives to everyone at the reunion. (I think that would be fun though - I still love learning about my cousins' grandparents who aren't related to me.) You can make it as complicated or simple as you'd like.
The template is two pages long, and can be downloaded by clicking on either image below.
The template consists of a simple butterfly body and, when you cut the two hearts down the middle, four butterfly, 'wings.' The simplest way in which to use this template is to write a person's name on the butterfly body, and then write the name of one of the person's four grandparents on each wing. You could even add photos to the butterfly wings, if you have them. Encourage your children to use their creativity when coloring the butterfly parts. Then, glue the parts together and display them somewhere in your home. This is an easy family home evening idea that can get your children talking about their grandparents and learning their grandparents' birth names, something that most younger children do not know.
And make sure you and your spouse make one as well, and explain to your children how your grandparents are their GREAT-grandparents. If you want to make the activity more of a challenge for older children, give them a name of an ancestor from farther back in your family tree, and see if they can make a butterfly with that person's grandparents. It's sure to get them looking at pedigree charts!
I also think this could be a GREAT activity/game to use at family reunions or any other large family group gatherings:
1.) Each family member is given a butterfly body, on which is written one family member's or ancestor's name.
2.) Scattered in a pile, or hidden around the house or other gathering place, are butterfly ‘wings,’ on each of which is written the name of another family member, alive or deceased, who are or were grandparents. Because one person might be grandparent to many people, make sure you have multiple copies of that person’s name written on wings. Use maiden names for the women.
3.) The goal is for each person to find the four grandparents of the person whose name is written on the butterfly’s body. Rules are up to you; you can have people work in teams or individually. I would definitely partner younger children with a teen or adult.
4.) Color the butterfly parts before gluing on the wings, and display them together for everyone to see. You could put them on a large poster board, a length of butcher paper, or string them into a colorful bunting.
The family reunion game will require more planning and maybe even some research, because some people's grandparents will not be blood-relatives to everyone at the reunion. (I think that would be fun though - I still love learning about my cousins' grandparents who aren't related to me.) You can make it as complicated or simple as you'd like.
The template is two pages long, and can be downloaded by clicking on either image below.
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I have not yet had the chance to try this at a family reunion, so if you do, send me a message and let me know how it goes!
©2017 Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2017 Emily Kowalski Schroeder
