Family Fun
FUN WITH YOUR KIDS:
AAA State of Play - Genealogy for Kids: Building a Family Tree (thanks to our favorite Boy Scout, Isaac, for suggesting this!) - https://www.aaastateofplay.com/genealogy-for-kids-building-a-family-tree/
FUN FOR EVERYONE!
Looking for something to do with the kids? In addition to our previous activities list, try some of these fun ideas!
1) Pull out your photo albums and share them with your family and add captions to the photos!
2) Sketch or paint a self-portrait or portraits of family members!
3) Write a letter to an ancestor and tell them about yourself!
4) Make a photo studio! Let children or grandchildren be the photographer, take family photos and add them to your photo albums or upload them to social media!
5) Collect and date family hand prints and frame them!
Be sure to share them with us on Facebook! www.facebook.com/FlemishLibrary/
FAMILY TREE
Make a family tree. Let your child take pictures of their family. Get the pictures printed. Get some large paper and fill the whole page with a big tree. Mount your pictures on the tree, be sure to identify each member with a name tag. Maybe you would like to collect signatures and ad those to the trees. If you would like help with this activity, come to the GSFA library and we will help you and your child get started on their tree, be sure to call and check our schedule at 586-777-2720.
Check out this excellent page for kids! AAA State of Play - Genealogy for Kids: Building a Family Tree (thanks to our favorite Boy Scout, Isaac, for suggesting this!) - https://www.aaastateofplay.com/genealogy-for-kids-building-a-family-tree/
FAMILY PORTRAIT
Provide materials for your child to make family portraits. You should draw along with your child. Depending on the age of your child, you might want to provide crayons, pencils, paints or any media they might enjoy. You can have a family member sit for their portrait, or use a picture, or draw from memory. Please take a picture of your artwork or bring it to the library to share your creations. We would love to see them. BE SURE TO DATE, FRAME AND HANG UP YOUR CHILD'S WORK!
CONCENTRATION
Use family photos for games. You can make duplicates, two each , or for older children, 2 of each person at different ages. Turn the cards over and take turns matching the pairs. This game can be played with several children, or played alone. With older children you could add a time limit.
COLLECTIONS
Business cards of family members - talk to family members about their jobs. Collect your family member signatures. Instead of just a photo of your relative, have your child take a selfie with them! Have all the children take selfies with them! You could make cards like baseball cards of your family with their stats, marital status, job, number of kids, pets, your favorite thing about them.
FAMILY INTERVIEW
Talk to family members and find out their favorite song, color, food, thing to do. Then maybe find their favorite song online (make a CD of everyone's favorite music on one CD). Make their favorite food for dinner, you could put all of the recipes together in a family cookbook. Try doing something another family member likes to do, you might enjoy it too.
INTERVIEWS (FAMILY HISTORIAN)
Your child could pretend to be a reporter. They could interview or record or video it. Again make a collection and keep all the interviews together in a book. The could come up with a standard questionnaire for guidance.
TELL A STORY
Use family photo albums. Share stories about the pictures with your children or grandchildren. Use current albums of child and let them tell you their story. You'll love it. Record if you can without ruining the moment. If all your photos are on your phone, you might want to print them out and make and album for your child.
PASS ON YOUR SKILLS
Sewing, knitting, crocheting, lace making, cooking, baking, woodworking, photography, auto repair, gardening, etc.
PLAN A FAMILY REUNION
Large or small, plan a family picnic. Local parks are a good place to get started. We always had our reunions in our back yard (we have a big backyard). Ask the kids for their ideas too. They're part of the family too and might think of something you wouldn't. Everyone can bring their own food and drink or plan a potluck. Send invitations or send out a family email. Remind family members to invite family members you might have missed because of lack of the contact info. You can play games or bring out the old standards croquet, volleyball, basketball, baseball etc. A family that can't play these games become the spectators and cheer on the teams. Card and board games are fun too. Be sure to plan for certain weather conditions, you might want to have a tent or garage available. Bring an old photo album to share family stories, be sure to record these stories for the younger generations. They may not have heard them before. Take pictures to start some new memories. Don't over plan or overwork. Remember you're all family. You might just want to visit. Kids can usually come up with their own fun. Just give them some balls and some space. HAVE FUN!
ORGANIZED GET TOGETHERS
Plan smaller get together. Just get the young cousins together to play and get to know each other better. Older cousins can have a movie night. One of my cousins made up a family road rally with clues to places related to some past family events. We all ended up together to make more family memories. Just go to dinner or lunch with your brothers and sisters.
FAMILY COOKBOOKS
Collect favorite family recipes. Ask family members for recipes of their specialty dishes. Recipes handed down through generations if there are any will be fun to add to your book. Your book doesn't have to be fancy, but it is important to get them collected and shared. Your children or grandchildren may have a program on their computer that will help them with this cookbook.
Print your books. Make sure you have enough copies for younger generations too.
Plan a potluck lunch or dinner. Have family members bring their special dishes to share. Share copies of the cookbook with all who submitted recipes.
Be sure to check out the recipes on our Cooking With The Flemish page!