How to help kids explore their family tree

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Exploring your family tree can reveal some truly exciting and unexpected stories. Just imagine if your great-great-grandad was a dapper West End performer, or your great-aunt was an intrepid writer travelling the world!

Whether it’s for a school project, a rainy day activity, or just a fun way to spend a weekend, tracing your family’s ancestry is a great way to bring generations together, develop your children’s research skills, and learn a new thing or two.

If by chance you discover that some of your ancestors were born in America, this guide on ordering US birth certificates makes it a breeze to get official records.

Start with what you know

The best way to help kids explore their family tree is right at home. All you need is a pen, paper, and a few phone calls.

Encourage your kids to talk to grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and other relatives. Ask them to gather basic details like names (both maiden and married surnames), home towns, birth dates, occupations, and their favourite memories. But don’t stop there – also ask about their favourite recipes, family traditions, or funny stories from childhood.

Besides being a treasure hunt for information, these chats often turn into heart-warming bonding moments. Kids might hear stories about life “back in the day,” silly childhood pranks, or even sweet old love stories that make them see relatives in a whole new light.

Make a family tree

Once you’ve gathered a bit of information, it’s time to turn it into something a little more visual. Nothing beats seeing your family’s history “bloom” than a colourful family tree.

Start by making a draft. Grab notecards or Post-it notes, write down important information for each family member (plus any cool facts), and arrange them in a tree shape. As a nice bonus, this is also a fun craft session.

It’s okay if there are gaps or some incomplete areas in your family tree, as those missing pieces are a perfect excuse to chat with nan on your next visit. Plus, they leave space to grow the tree even more over time.

Use online resources

Another great way to help kids explore their family tree (especially when you’ve hit a few “Hmm, not sure…” moments) is to turn to the internet.

Sites like Ancestry.co.uk, Findmypast, and even local government archives can help your kids dive deeper into your family’s past. Be sure to look at things like census records, passenger lists, marriage certificates, parish registers, and other historical documents. You’ll often find unexpected nuggets of information, like a sibling no one knew about, a change in a surname, or a family member who lived in a different country altogether.

Kids love this part because they feel like detectives solving a mystery or a puzzle. It’s the thrill of finding out something new about someone from their own family tree. “Oh wait, Grandma’s grandma was born in Ireland? But she was living in Liverpool by 1911? How did that happen?” Just like that, it becomes a story worth chasing.

Along the way, they’ll also be building research skills and learning about geography, history, and pattern recognition.

Make history come alive

After completing your family tree, why not take it one step further? This part is especially rewarding if you have older kids, because they’re often ready for deeper conversations, historical context, and even a bit of critical thinking.

Understanding the historical context of your ancestors’ lives makes their stories feel more real and personal. Instead of reading off a list of names and dates, your kids begin to imagine what those people were really like.

Were they farmers during the Victorian era? Perhaps a coal miner in Wales during the late 1800s? Did someone serve in World War II or live through the Blitz?

Once you’ve found the era or country they lived in, you can build a little history project around it. Watch a documentary together, flip through old photos or books, or even pick up a historical novel set in that time period.

Suddenly, those names become real people with dreams, struggles, and adventures of their own.

Or take a trip

If you discover that your ancestors came from other countries, why not take a virtual trip together?

For example, one of our friends had a great-aunt who moved from England to the United States at the turn of the century and eventually settled in New York City. After exploring and charting that side of the family, they realised that some distant cousins still lived in the area, and eventually took a trip across the Atlantic to visit and reconnect in person!

Even if hopping on a plane isn’t possible, you can still enjoy a bit of armchair travel. You can watch videos, browse travel guides, and plan your dream itinerary together. Who knows, maybe one day you’ll take that trip for real.

Have you explored your family tree with your kids? What’s your top tip for making it fun and engaging?