Most of the family activities I design for my own children involve talking about specific family members and relationships in our own little family tree. However, the nomenclature of family relationships can be confusing, and I wanted to come up with a activity that could teach my kids simply how each relationship is connected to another. Since children are very hands-on and visual by nature, I knew I would have to find something tactile to work with for this activity.
For this activity, you need wooden craft sticks, colored markers, and self-adhesive Velcro dots. I recently found some jumbo-sized craft sticks at Wal-Mart, which are perfect for writing on. (I also used slightly smaller craft sticks for certain relationships, just because the jumbo ones were taking up too much space.)
For this activity, you need wooden craft sticks, colored markers, and self-adhesive Velcro dots. I recently found some jumbo-sized craft sticks at Wal-Mart, which are perfect for writing on. (I also used slightly smaller craft sticks for certain relationships, just because the jumbo ones were taking up too much space.)
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The concept of the activity is very simple: the craft sticks serve as both the individual family members themselves and the reproductive connections between the relationships. I used a unique color for each generation. The central person of the tree is simply labeled 'Me.' The sticks are connected to each other using self-adhesive Velcro dots that can be purchased at any craft or big box store.
Don't feel like you have to make this specific to YOUR family; the one I created is not representative of our family, and I wanted it that way. One of the main reasons I wanted a more generic learning tool is so that my kids could visualize how these family relationships fit into a family from a more general perspective. I want my kids to understand not only how each individual relationship fits into the family tree 'puzzle,' but also how different family trees can be.
Relationships such as half-siblings and step-siblings can be difficult for some children to understand, but hopefully visualizing how each person is connected helps with that understanding.
Relationships such as half-siblings and step-siblings can be difficult for some children to understand, but hopefully visualizing how each person is connected helps with that understanding.
And did you ever think how confusing it might be to a young person that an aunt or uncle could be blood-related vs. related by marriage? It's something we all eventually learn by the time we are adults, but it can be difficult to understand for kids.
Most people refer to your grandmother's brother as a great-uncle, even though grand-uncle is correct as well. This can be super confusing to kids, who would logically think that a 'great-uncle' should be a great-grandparent's sibling. But in this activity, the child can clearly SEE their grandmother and great-uncle in the same generation with the same parents.
Adoptive relationships are just as important as blood relationships, so I chose to indicate those types of bonds by drawing red hearts on those people who have been welcomed into the family tree through adoption.
I encourage you to try this out with the young people in your life. Have fun with it and make it a game. Create it together and then take it apart and try to get all the relationships in their proper places. It would also make a great small group activity for kids to work on together.
©2016 Emily Kowalski Schroeder
©2016 Emily Kowalski Schroeder
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