Family Reunion Ideas: Top 10 Ways to Incorporate Family History

Family reunions are the perfect place to share your family history with others. The trick is to keep things light and fun!

Family Reunion Top 10

These top 10 family reunion ideas can sprinkle a healthy–and tasty– dose of heritage into your next family gathering.

10 Family Reunion Ideas for Incorporating Family History

1. Family Tree Hopscotch.

This life-sized bean bag toss/hopscotch game quizzes family members on the names of ancestors. It’s aimed at kids, but adults enjoy it, too!

family tree hopscotch great for reunions

2. Table Talk: 

If you’ll be seated at tables, provide an icebreaker that can double as a family history gathering opportunity.

Place a form at each place setting for guests to fill out. (Or a short list of questions for people to answer, if a videographer will make the rounds at each table)

Include questions like:

  • What’s your earliest childhood memory? 
  • Who’s the earliest ancestor you have a photograph of?
  • What are three things you remember about great-grandmother?

Can you imagine how this Martha Stewart placecard on Pinterest (which I found by searching “family reunion history” at Pinterest, a great place for collecting family reunion ideas) might be adapted this way?

3. Put Ancestors at the Center of Things: 

Centerpieces or displays that celebrate your heritage will attract curious relatives and may prompt memories and comments.

One of our Premium members sent us a description of her conversation-starting centerpiece: click here to read about it. 

If guests won’t be seated at tables, set up a family history display table next to the refreshments table (where they’re most likely to walk by!). Let them know that this is their gift to you. You could even have some sort of treat or little sticker they can wear that says, “I shared our family history: Have you?”

4. Sweet Memories: 

Create “Sweet Memories Candy Bars” that feature family history. I write about these in my book Genealogy Gems: Ultimate Research Strategies. They are great conversation starters–and the candy is a definite incentive to get people talking.

sweet memories chocolate bar

My family adored this customized candy bar

5. Heritage Scrapbook:

A mini, accordion-style scrapbook craft project makes a fun, meaningful activity for all ages. Relatives can work on these alone or in little groups. It’s the kind of project that would be easy to adapt for any family’s background.

6. Have Yourself a Merry Little Family History:

Make a holiday craft that celebrates your heritage. Click here for a free PDF with directions on making a heritage Christmas stocking. Or make a family history-themed wreath, following these instructions I posted on YouTube.

7. Games: 

Try a heritage twist on the classic wedding or baby shower games. Create a crossword puzzle or word search with family surnames, hometowns, favorites and more. Here’s a link to one website that creates a puzzle for you for free.

Or invite guests to bring their own baby pictures. Post them for all to see and let your guests guess who each baby is.

8. Cook up some Conversation:

When I was looking for family reunion ideas a while back it occurred to me that my family’s love of food was a great angle to tap into. 

Heritage cookbooks are a time-honored way to share family recipes, and they can double as a reunion fund-raiser if you like.

Ask family members to submit recipes. Add recipes from ancestors. Share them with each family or guest who attends.

Remember, it’s not hard to create an e-book of recipes that you can’t share by email or on Facebook. An easy version of this idea: Snapfish offers a really cute way to share individual recipes on pre-printed cards. Only one or two recipes required to make this a success!

heritage recipes cookbook

9. The Amazing Family History Scavenger Hunt:

Create a list of questions that will require some scavenger-hunt type searching among your relatives.

Questions might include finding someone who has at least 10 grandchildren, was born in California, is about to start kindergarten, likes the Beatles, etc.

Research ahead of time so that questions all apply. This activity gets people talking!

10. DNA Day:

Purchase a few DNA kits for genealogy. Have them on hand in case family members want or are willing to have their DNA swabs done. This is especially great if older relatives are coming, but might not complete the swabs if you mailed them to them.

BONUS FAMILY REUNION TIP:

Did you know you can organize a great family reunion on Facebook–even if not everyone is ON Facebook? Click here to read a post with great tips about using Facebook to keep everyone in the loop and share the good times with those who can’t attend.

Be sure to share this article on family reunion ideas with the family reunion planners you know! It can be so helpful to get a fresh burst of ideas when planning big family gatherings.sharing

 

New Genealogy Records for Canada and the United States

New and updated records for Canada and the United States are hot off the press this week. Mortality schedules, cemetery records, Roman Catholic records, and passenger lists are listed for Canadian genealogy research. For the United States, check out Ohio newspapers, New Jersey census records, Confederate maps, and more. 

new genealogy records for Canada

Canada – New and Updated Collections

Ancestry has three brand new collections of Canadian records. First is the Census Mortality Schedule, 1871, covering the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and Quebec.

Specifically for Ontario, Toronto Trust Cemeteries, 1826-1989 includes records of several Toronto Cemeteries. And the Roman Catholic Baptisms, Marriages, and Burials, 1760-1923 collection includes indexed records of Ontario baptisms, marriages, and burials. Other records, such as family lists, communions, and confirmations may appear, but do not have associated indices.

At FamilySearch, the collection of Canada Passenger Lists (1881-1922) has been updated with over 33,000 new indexed records. The collection contains an index and images of ships’ passenger lists (also known as ships’ manifests or seaport records of entry).

United States – Newspapers, Census Records, & More

Ohio. MyHeritage has a new collection of Ohio Newspapers from 1793-2009 that you’ll definitely want to explore. These newspapers come from various cities and towns throughout the state and may provide vital records substitutes as well as a glimpse of daily life.

New Jersey. State Census records for New Jersey are now online at Ancestry for the following years: 18551865187518851905, and 1915. Records did not survive from all New Jersey counties but all available records are included in this collection.

New York. Brooklyn, Bethlehem Steel Shipyard Employment Cards, 1908-1965 is another new collection at Ancestry. Records include name, age, birth date, next-of-kin, and employment date.

Illinois. New over at FamilySearch are Illinois Mortality Schedules, 1850-1880. This collection lists people who died in the year preceding each census starting in 1850.

National Archives. Over 100 Confederate maps have been digitized at the National Archives. These maps are part of Record Group (RG) 109 and can be viewed online as well as downloaded. Additionally, some of the maps contained unique information on the back, and both sides are available to view in the Catalog.

Railroads. Finally, the Railroad Retirement Pension Index, 1934-1987 is available now at Ancestry. Records vary, but the information found may include birth date, death date, and social security number.

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Our weekly e-newsletter is packed with the latest in all things family history! Included each week is our round-up of new and updated records collections around the web and offline. Get inspiring ideas, brick wall strategies, expert interviews, and more when you sign up for our free newsletter. As a bonus, you’ll get a free ebook of my top Google search strategies! Click here to sign up now.

71,000 pages of Canadian Genealogy and History Now Online

canada_flag_perspective_anim_150_clr_2301If you have Canadian roots, you’ll want to know about a rich new resource now at Findmypast.com. It’s the Canadian Books collection, with 71,000 pages of keyword-searchable histories, vital records, directories, published genealogies and more.

“Dating back to the 1600s, the Canadian Books boast 71,000 pages of items such as military, religious, occupational and immigration records, business directories, published genealogies and BMDs [births, marriages and deaths],” states a Findmypast.com press release. “The books feature a sizeable amount of military records with various nominal rolls and rolls of honour relating mostly to the First World War, such as The Royal Montreal Regiment, 14th Battalion, University of Toronto Roll of Service buy heartworm medication online canada 1914-1918 and 31st Canadian Infantry CEF 1914-1919.”

Though the core content is Canada, the reach of this 200-volume collection extends outside Canada’s boundaries. “With titles such as Sketches of Irish soldiers, The Scotch-Irish of California, and German-Canadian Folklore, the collection is valuable for people with Canadian ancestry and those who can trace their origins back to the UK or Europe.”

This collection comes from the Archive CD Books Canada Project, which has gathered, renovated and reproduced Canadian historical books, documents and maps for over a decade. The 200 volumes are searchable through all Findmypast international sites with a World Subscription and in the U.S. and Canada resources at Findmypast.com.

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