The Rainbow Fan Chart

In recent years, the fan chart has become an increasingly popular way in which to display one's family ancestry.  For those who are not familiar with this type of pedigree chart, it is an arc-shaped chart with the primary descendant in the middle and the ancestors radiating away from the center in a circular fashion.  Below is an example of a simple fan chart from Misbach.org. You can download several blank pedigree charts for your personal use at this link.

I really like the idea of using the fan chart to introduce children to the concept of pedigree charts, and as a simple way to illustrate how the number of our ancestors increases the further back you go in time.  Fan charts are very visual and that appeals to children.  They also show the child at the center of the chart, and, let's face it, children inherently think of themselves as the center of their world.

Now, even with these child-friendly qualities, am I going to show my kids a full fan chart of all their ancestors? No way - that would be much too overwhelming and, frankly, boring to a 6 year old and a 3 year old.  Before they are old enough to take in all of those names, dates, and families, I needed a way in which to introduce the concept of fan charts, while at the same time teaching them about family relationships and visually illustrating just what a generation is.

In case you missed it, I introduced the concept of generations to my kids using the Play-Doh Pedigree Chart.  In that activity, we used different colors to represent different generations.  So, I decided to create a rainbow out of craft foam sheets, in which each color, again, represents a separate generation.  The rainbow shape resembles a fan chart, and kids are naturally drawn to anything with bright colors.

I used craft foam sheets, but you could just as easily use colored cardstock or construction paper.

Then, starting with the red, I cut out successively smaller arcs to make the rainbow.  (Because of the way the sunlight bends through the raindrops, primary rainbows always have red on the outside and purple on the inside.)

Next, I simply used a black permanent marker to write the names of each generation on the corresponding arc.  The central purple piece I labeled as 'Me.'  Using six colors gives you the opportunity to go all the way back to great-great-great-grandparents.  

So, this basically gives children a different way in which to visualize their family 'tree.'  And, if you have a child who is learning how to read, it's a great way to introduce these genealogical words and their meanings.  As you talk about each generation, the child (depending on his/her age) may be able to identify by name their parents, grandparents, and maybe even great-grandparents if they have had the opportunity to meet them.  Explaining the older generations is a bit tougher.  At first, I would recommend just telling children that their great-great-great-grandparents lived long, long ago, perhaps in a different country, but you are still related to them and they are still part of your family, even though they are no longer around.  (I've said it before, don't be afraid to talk about the cycle of life and death with your children; children are generally pretty open to talking about it and they only start to fear death when adults with whom they interact make it a sad and taboo subject.)

To make this activity a little more hands-on, I made a puzzle out of the rainbow.  I purchased self-adhesive Velcro dots and placed them on the fronts and back of the different rainbow pieces.  My three year old loves to put the rainbow together and take it apart, and while she is doing it, I can read her the words and try to convey who each section represents in our family.  (It's also useful for teaching and learning colors!)

For my older child's benefit, I wrote a sentence on the back of each arc.  On the 'parents' one, I wrote, "I have 2 parents."  Then, for the 'grandparents' one I wrote, "I have 4 grandparents."  I did this for each successive generation.  This can give the child a sense of how our ancestors increase in number the further back you go in time, but without confusing them with specific names or family lines yet.

After you play around with this rainbow for awhile, you can begin to show school-age children a REAL fan chart with names and perhaps even photos added so that they can start to learn more specifically about the people related to them.  But there is never any hurry to push the details - providing a solid background of simple vocabulary and concepts upon which to build over the years is the best way to not only get children interested in their family histories, but also to KEEP them interested as they grow older.

©2014, copyright Emily Kowalski Schroeder. 

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