To be perfectly honest, when the activity books were first published a few years ago, I was a little slow to take a look only because I just didn't get the title of Zap The Grandma Gap. Yet at a recent genealogy conference, I was able to browse through the books, and was immediately sold. The activities in the books would help me teach my kids about their ancestors in a fun, creative, and educational way.
If you have German ancestors, for example, here's what you can do with the My German Ancestor Activity Book:
- Record how you are related to your German ancestor
- Try some German recipes
- Read a German Fairy Tale your ancestors might have known
- Color and cut out German paper dolls to tell the stories of your ancestors
- Collect documents about your German ancestor’s life
- Make a Schultute School Bag like your ancestors may have received for school
- Explore some of the qualities you share with your German Ancestor
- And explore many other activities
There are currently 8 workbooks in the activity book series:
- My British Ancestor
- My German Ancestor
- My Swedish Ancestor
- My Civil War Ancestor
- My Jewish Ancestor
- My Pioneer Ancestor
- My Mormon Ancestor
- My Danish Ancestor
Remember the Parade Magazine's report on "How Happy Is Your Family?" Devin Ashby, from FamilySearch.org, discussed this in his "Family History For Kids" webinar. He shared that a team of psychologists did a study where they measured children's resilience and found out that kids who knew the most about their family's history were the best able to handle stress. As a father of four, and wanting the best for my children, I work hard to give them opportunities to learn about their past. And since they have ancestors in all eight categories of these activity books, I see these books as another tool in my parenting toolbox. I can hardly wait to get started.
How to Purchase
The activity books are available for $9.95 each in PDF format with immediate download delivery.
You should also provide one that doesn’t focus on a specific nationality, but explores the child’s family tree across multiple nationalities.