If your children or grandchildren have not yet caught the genealogy bug, these new-to-our-online-store activity books may be just what you need to capture their interest. Part of the Zap the Grandma Gap series, each book has 48 pages of activities and is designed for children between 6 and 14 years old.
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.