Unearth a New Family Tradition this Holiday Season

Create a similar family history book using Ancestry.com’s digital application

The holidays are here again, bringing family members from far and wide together for eggnog, gift exchanges and merrymaking. This year, #1 family history Web site Ancestry.com is the go-to resource for families who want to capture the priceless stories and photographs that are shared when everyone gets together this holiday season. 

The following are some quick tips from Ancestry.com on how you can make the most of family together-time during the holidays.  And, Ancestry.com is challenging YOU to try out some of these tips during your own special holiday family reunion.

• Tell family stories – Grandparents are wonderful sources of family history, and nothing is as poignant as hearing them recount stories about their own life experiences.  Instead of using an outdated cassette recorder to interview relatives for oral histories, use Ancestry.com’s audio recording feature. Free on Ancestry.com, your child can record one or two-way audio conversations straight to your family tree. To help your child get started, encourage him or her to ask questions such as where and when their grandparent was born, where they went to school as a child and how old they were when they got their first job.
• Preserve family treasures – Encourage your child to look at old family photos with a grandparent and ask questions about when the photos were taken and who the people in the photos are. Together, they can scan photos, birth and marriage certificates and other historical documents and organize them by attaching them to specific people in your family tree on Ancestry.com.
• Turn your family story into a book – Using Ancestry.com's digital scrapbook application, you can take some of your favorite family stories and create a memory book for children - complete with family photographs, stories, and embellishments - that you can then use as you share family stories with your youngster.
• Create a family tree placemat – A fun way to get children thinking about their family history is to turn it into art. One idea is to create a simple pedigree chart on a placemat made of construction paper, and then work with your child to fill in the names of the family members and allow them to draw pictures and make it their own. To dig further into your family history, create your family tree on Ancestry.com and mine the site's 4 billion historical records.
• Celebrate family recipes – Have your child ask a grandparent or other family member about a cherished family recipe that has been passed down through the generations. Encourage them to spend some time in the kitchen and make the recipe together. Then, to help keep recipes in the family forever, add recipes and other family photographs on Ancestry.com to create a beautiful family recipe book keepsake.

-Courtesy of Ancestry.com