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The following links go to sites and pages that contain many fun and interesting games and activities that can help entertain and at the same time teach family members of all ages the enjoyment, and dare I say it, the "love" of Family History.
For most if not all of the games and activities listed (except the first three links), it is necessary to have and be able to log in to your FamilySearch account. If you do not have a Family Search account go to the Getting a FamilySearch Account and Other Beginning Essentials page.
Fairly new within the last year is a new FamilySearch app called "Together." It is a mobile app that contains many activites. It is available on both the Android Play Store and the Apple App Store. Try it, but know in advance that you can spend a great deal of time with the activities available there. But, wait a minute. . .that's not a bad thing.😉
1.Nine different ways to get started with Family History. (Many of which are targeting the entire family.)
2.The Inter-generational Self Questionnaire is and interesting survey of Family History knowledge. It talks about how children in families who are aware of their family history are more successful. This is an interesting measure of your knowledge of your family's past.
3. Activities that don't require the Internet. Go to this web page to see things you can do without being online.
4. FamilySearch has teamed up with RootsTech and they have just recently posted a video entitled: 20 Kid-Friendly Family History Activity Ideas in 20 Minutes. Their blurb says, "If you’ve got kids (or grandkids), these 20 activities are fast, fun, and a great way to connect generations."
You will also find that they give a link to even more activities at: https://www.thegenealogykids.com/
All of the games and activities in this section can be accessed by going to: The BYU Family History Technology Lab, but if you want to go directly to one of the individual games or activities, the link is listed below the name and description of that game or activity. check out their home page. New activities are being added all the time. Although large the list below is not complete.
Games to play with the family:
"Geneopardy", the game that tests your knowledge of your family tree
"Wheel of Family Fortune" the classic party game that test how well you know your ancestor's names.
At "Ancestor Games" you can choose to play a "Matching Game", or do Ancestor Coloring", a "Crossword puzzle", a "Word Search" or a "Word Scramble" all using information from your family tree.
"Record Quest" is an engaging video adventure game designed to teach kids valuable family history research skills.
The next links are to activities that aren't games, but are worth exploring:
"Geneography" not to be confused with Geneopardy, this activity allows you to compare dates from your family tree with demographics from USA censuses.
"Reverse Indexing" uses advanced computer science methods to read the handwriting of records for you. But it is still in need of help to perfect the computer intelligence. Check it out to see how you can help,
"Memri" "The hope and intent of this project is to inspire families to work together to build their memories of each other and their ancestors in a fun and safe environment."
These links are also different, but interesting as well:
"Relative Finder" "allows you to see how you are related to friends, coworkers, prophets, historical figures, and more!" (Not to be confused with "Relatives Around Me" that is on the Family Tree mobile app.)
"Virtual Pedigree" simply must be experienced. It is very different from the pedigree charts available on FamilySearch or anywhere else.
"Tree Sweeper" will help find and correct mistakes in you family tree, eg. an ancestor who was born before their parents.
"Pedigree Pie" is a pie chart that shows about where and when each of your ancestors lived.
"One Page Genealogy" allows you to put up to 20 generations on one page--ascendancy or descendancy.
"Family Calendar" shows the important events in your ancestors' lives. It can also be exported to Google's or Apple's calendar.
There are 19 categories of activities available on the FamilySearch website with many more activities within each category. For example there are 26 activities within the "All About Me" category. I will, therefore, just give you the URL to access all of them, and you can explore on your own. Take your time there is a lot to do here. https://www.familysearch.org/discovery/
Some of the more family-oriented categories are In Home Activites, All About Me, Ancestor Challenge, Compare-a-Face, Picture My Heritage, Record My Story, and Where am I from?.
Lastly, if you go to the Gospel Library app on a tablet or smartphone, or sign in to your Gospel Library with your member account on the Church's website, there is a series of 12 Family History mystery activities for children.
To access them once you are in the library,
go to "Audiences."
In Audiences, click on "Children."
Once in the Children's menu, click on "Family History."
These mysteries are sequential, so it is really best for parents to read through the activities before beginning them with their children.