A fun and informative project is to make a family tree. If you don’t know how to make your family tree to preserve your family history, our guide will give you all the tips and tricks
Contents
How well do you know your family and its past? How many ancestors can you name at a go? Not many? How about doing some research on your family’s genealogy and preserving your family history? You can prepare a family tree and etch your family history in black and white.
Learn About Your Family History
One cannot start preserving family history from anywhere. You need to plan your steps to ensure that you have all the relevant information in the correct order before setting them chronologically.
So, to begin with, you must learn as much as possible about your family history. There are a few simple methods to get started:
- Talk to the seniors in the house and get all details and stories before your time. You might want to record them to ensure that no information gets missed. You can also note them down in pen and paper.
- Talk to people who were not directly a part of the family but were associated closely for years. They might be able to fill you in with information and stories that might get overlooked otherwise.
- Look through old photos, letters, or anything similar that might give you a sneak peek into the past.
- While sifting through old papers and documents, you might come across some old family tree if you are lucky. It is a win-win for you, as you get a headstart on the whole family tree and family history preservation procedure.
You might like to read: Life Lessons From The Elderly
Inspirational Family Trees
Family trees can be inspirational in their way. Some of the inspirational ways to preserve family history are:
- You can digitize the photos and preserve them for future generations.
- Digitization of old documents is also a good idea.
- Look out for old objects at home, stored away, and try to learn the story behind each of them. You can tag the stories to the objects and let the stories live on forever.
- Preserve traditional family recipes that you learn on the go. Note them down to ensure nothing gets lost in translation.
- You can create a memory book with all the photos. Arrange old photos such that they tell a story by themselves.
Preserve Your Family’s Living History
Living in the moment is also essential to ensure that you do not stop making memories. Trying to preserve what you have from the past should not come in the way, and you lose out on the living history. Try to encapsulate every memory such that you can revisit it at any time. These memories could be in the form of photographs, objects that hold special importance, letters, or any written notes. To preserve your family’s living history, you need to follow some steps. They are:
- Firstly, you need to organize the information and know what you are looking for and what you already have.
- Many online platforms help you organize all the information available.
- These platforms also provide collaborative templates for preparing family trees and preserving your family history. You can fill in all the information that is available to you, and share the file with the rest of your family to fill the gaps as per their knowledge.
Tips To Create Family Trees To Preserve Family History
You might not be a pro at preserving family trees, but you can definitely preserve your family tree like a pro. All you need to know are the correct techniques to do it. Some tips for preserving your family history are as below:
- Refer to standardized templates or charts to prepare your family history. It will help you accurately keep the information and set them chronologically.
- Go through family history preservation guides available in the markets.
- Track all changes in spellings for surnames and middle names. Note them down somewhere if you need to.
- You can check the birth certificates and other proofs for birth dates, marriages, deaths, or any special dates for that matter.
- Document all the information and file them correctly.
- Take reference from any local library to see if you find relevant information on your genealogy.
You might like to read: Sandwich Generation-Caring For Young Children And Elderly Parents At The Same Time
Stories That Bind Families
Digging into the past should not be the only activity on your agenda. You must understand that stories bind families, and so you must continue to make new stories with every opportunity. We suggest that you spend more time with your family.
Traveling can be a good idea to know more about the family members and more of your family’s past that you might not have discussed otherwise in a normal day-to-day conversation.
Travel can be a good ice breaker in such cases. Try to plan more trips with the family and create new stories with each one.
How Can You Preserve Your Family History?
There are many ways to preserve your family history, and some of them are:
- By preparing a family tree most accurately. The more information you have, the more extended the family tree is. Try to join the tree to your best knowledge.
- You can take on an ancestry DNA test to trace back to your roots.
- You can bury a time capsule to preserve your family’s memory for future generations.
- You can write a timeline using the most cherished memories of your family. The digitized timeline can leave on for ages for your future generations to learn more about you.
- Video recordings can live on forever, even when you are gone. Record a video with some message to whoever sees it or even compile family memories to make the memories ever-lasting.
You might like to read: Are Family Members Responsible for Nursing Home Bills?
Wrap Up
To learn how to make a family tree, you must first learn all the information on your family from whatever sources available to you. Have them in writing first to arrange them easily in the correct order.
Digitizing it either using different online sources or manually can be a good idea to preserve it for future generations. Learning about your family’s legacy can be interesting, and the process of preparing a family tree is pretty challenging.
As always, if you want to share your suggestions and ideas for our readers, our comments section is open. If you liked what we wrote, do share and forward in your groups!
