Heritage Album

What is a creative idea for a family tree?

Okay well my teacher wants me and my 8th grade class to each make a family tree - he said that it should be creative. What is a creative idea for my family tree?

Public Comments

1. To start out, you want to know as much information as you can. Than you can make it fun. You want to know all your grandparents and great-grandparents name. Are your grandparents alive? Maybe they can tell you stories? A lot of people's grandfather's have war stories? Maybe they have stories from their parents that resembled the times? My grandmother told me that her grandfather, who was born in Italy, was an ''ice man'' in America. I said what the hell is that? lol I thought it sounded like it was drugs. They didn't have refrigerators back than (or commonly or how we know it today), so people used ice...A family tree is one of those things you can continue to add things too. Maybe you'll get more interested in learning about your family's history from this kind of projects.
2. Samantha, a family tree can be as large or small as you want to make it. Many focus on the paternal (father's) side of their family since that is where their surname comes from, but you could restrict it to just those who are living. Go to Ancestry.com for some examples. Or you can Google a surname and put "genealogy" or "family tree" after it to see what others have done. You might want to treat the family members like they are movie stars and you are giving them an interview for the newspaper. Write down the things you want to know or you want the world to know about them, and conduct interviews with them. It might be fun to take pictures of them and "age" the pictures to make them look worn or like they came from the silver screen age if you have some software that will allow that. Or you could pick a theme close your heart. Maybe you like horses. How does everyone in your family relate to the subject of horses? Who were the cowboys and cowgirls, and who were the city-slickers? Or you could do something really out of character like tagging your mom as Momma Bear, your dad as Pappa Bear, your younger sibling (or yourself) as Baby Bear, etc., then use the information you know about everyone to create a bear family tree (or any other animal, nursery rhyme character, etc. that you choose). Have fun with this. You will learn things about your family that will be very precious to you when you grow a little older, and you'll be creating a memory for the ones you honor in your tree.
3. DON'T WORRY....BE HAPPY....BE HAPPY AND MAKE ALL HAPPIEST....EAT AND LET EAT....LIVE AND LIVE PEACEFULLY.....
4. Search google images for "family tree", and you'll see all sorts of creative ways that people have displayed their family trees! Maybe one of them will give you an idea, and you can use your Imagination to make it unique. You could also make a 3-dimensional tree. You could use a branch that you find outside (maybe spray paint it), or you could construct one out of wire, popsicle sticks, wood, or whatever... then cut out some paper leaves to hang on it. Each leaf could have a picture and/or information about a different family member. Good luck and have fun! =]
5. Often times when I try too hard to come up with something "creative" it backfires! Therefore, I tend to keep things practical and simple. I recently made a family tree poster to display at the family reunion via Heritage Makers. The trunk displayed a picture of the family matriarch and patriarch (mom and dad) and then each branch was a picture of one of their children w/ family name and pictures his/her spouse and family. The picture frames were color-coded so you could see at a glance who belonged to whom. I was pleased with the final product and everyone else loved it, too. See the source box for a link to a picture of the poster.