National Family History Month

15 Activities That You Can Do During National Family History Month!

Did you know that there is a whole month dedicated to genealogy? Well, National Family History Month is all about finding your roots and discovering who your ancestors were.

National Family History Month

Read on as I will suggest 15 activities that will connect you with them.

Please note that you do not have to do all of these activities. The more that you do though then the more that you will have uncovered about your ancestors.

Special Dates:

National Family History Month – October

National Family History Month – August (Australia)

Check Out When Genealogy Day Is!


The 15 Activities for National Family History Month

I have previously discussed the first ten activities in greater detail within my 10 Ways To Find Your Family History post.

Because of this, I will just briefly cover these 10 ways as they are still fun, exciting, and helpful ways that you can use to explore your genealogy and find out who your ancestors were.

1. Start with yourself

The first obvious step to discovering your family history is to write down what you already know. And to do this you start with yourself.

You can record your name, date and place of birth, and any other details that you feel are relevant.

 

Start With Yourself

Once you have done that then you can move on to your parents. Ask what you know about them, and repeat the process up your family tree.

You may know all the vital information for your grandparents and possibly for your great grandparents as well.


2. Look around your home

After you have carried out the first activity it is then time to look around your home.

You will be amazed at how much useful information is inside your house, within drawers or shoe boxes, down the basement, or up in the attic.

Sources of Information

This information can be in the form of a certificate, such as a birth certificate.

Or, you may come across discharge papers for your grandfather at the end of the Second World War.

You just don’t know what you will discover. And as Ancestry says, “You just need to look“.


3. Ask your relatives for help

The third step in this process, and maybe the most exciting so far, would have to be asking your living relatives for any help that they could give you to find out who your ancestors were.

They could be your parents, grandparents, aunts or uncles, or cousins.

Ask Our Relatives For Help

My Top 20 Family History Interview Questions post will provide you with some great questions that you can ask them.

Besides that, I also discuss how you may carry out the interview, whether in person or over the phone, and many tips as well.


4. Check out local archives and library

There is a ton of information that is waiting for you at your local archives and library as well. The archives will contain many records about your ancestors.

These can include certificates as I have mentioned before, but also military records, wills, land and property records, and so on

Join A Library

My Plan a Visit To The Archives post will help you get the most from your trip to the archives.

The library has also been a great help with my family history.

Their local history section gave me an insight into what the area was like where my ancestor lived and also what job opportunities were available for my ancestors.


5. Check out genealogical societies

You can call them genealogical societies if you live in the United States. If you’re from the United Kingdom then you will probably refer to them as family history societies.

Whatever you call them they will still be of great help to you, especially if you are lost and don’t know what you are doing. Or you may have hit a brick wall.

Family History Society

These societies usually publish guide books on the local area as well records and registers of places of worship and education.

Not only can you get this valuable information from them but the advice that you can get from the more experienced members and staff can help you on your family history journey.


6. Visit cemeteries

If you do live within the area where your ancestors once lived, or are close by, then why not visit some cemeteries.

You may find this morbid or maybe ghoulish but you can find plenty of details by doing so.

Visit Cemeteries

That is of course that you find their grave. But if you already know where your ancestor lived then they could be buried at the closest church.

If you are fortunate to find their gravestone then you can get valuable information such as when they died, how old they were when they died, and also maybe spouse, parent or children details as well.


7. Check out genealogy sites

If you are tech-savvy then you may wish to find out about your ancestors by getting online and checking out the many different genealogy search websites that are available.

This is one activity that I have used countless times to find out about my ancestors.

Ancestry.com

I would frequently use both Ancestry and FindMyPast as they have billions of records within their database.

Because they contained so many records there was always the possibility that I would find something. And it kept me busy.

There are other genealogy search sites that you can visit besides these main two. There is MyHeritage, Archives, and Genealogy Bank to name but a few.

Please be prepared though with these sites as you will need to pay a subscription to search and access the records held within their databases.

It is worth it!

There are free sites that you can visit if you do not wish to spend any money.

My 10 Free Genealogy Sites post will show you where you can find them.


8. Try a Google search

Ah yes, good old Google. As the saying goes you can find almost anything on the Internet so why not use the world’s most powerful search engine to find your ancestors.

You may be surprised as to what you will find and where you will find it.

It may be a bit hit and miss when entering your ancestor’s name into the search engine but it is still definitely worth a shot.

Google Search

But if you aren’t getting anywhere with your search you may wish to check out the Google for Genealogy Premium Collection.

This great collection of guides will show you how you can get the most out of Google and find your ancestors’ records.


9. Do a DNA genealogy test

DNA testing has come a long way since it first became publicized in the late 1990s.

It has become very popular thanks to companies such as AncestryDNA who keep advertising how they can help you with your genealogy research.

Ancestry though isn’t the only company that provides such a service. There are 23andMe, FamilyTreeDNA, and MyHeritage among others.

 

What Is A Genealogy DNA Test?

These companies will test a sample of your saliva or a swab and compare it with a sample of DNA within their collection.

From this comparison, they can then determine where in the world your ancestors originated.

One other great advantage of these companies is that they can match you with people who share a common ancestor, i.e. they can connect you with a living relative.

Being able to make this connection is another opportunity that you can share information and get more information about your ancestors.


10. Hire a professional genealogist

You may decide to hire a professional genealogist, or rather a genealogy freelancer, maybe the way to go for you.

And that’s quite alright because we do have other commitments such as work or family, or whatever.

Hire A Professional Genealogist

 

We may have even hit a brick wall in our research and just can’t seem to overcome it.

So, why not ask a professional for help?

Do be prepared though that this can be costly. And you will have to be specific about what you are after before you settle on a fee.


11. Preserve your family heirlooms

If you have looked around your home for information about your ancestors’ chances are that you will have come across family heirlooms. These could be medals, coins, jewelry, or silverware.

No matter what you find that is connected with your ancestors you will surely want to preserve them for future generations.

Preserve Your Family Treasures

If you do not take the time to look after these priceless heirlooms they will, unfortunately, be lost in time. What a waste?

My How To Preserve Your Family Treasures post will give you practical tips on how you can preserve all articles that you may find around your home.


12. Preserve your old family photos and create a scrapbook

Old family photographs are another family heirloom that you can preserve for future generations.

Within the Old Family Photos section of this site, I share tips that you can use to not only preserve these photographs but also how to date them, scan them, store them, and also how to identify who is in them.

Your ancestor's story!

If you are more of a creative person then you may want to put together a scrapbook containing these old family photographs.

It can also be a wonderful activity that you can share with all of your family.

So why not get the kids involved and show them who their ancestors were and what you know about them?


13. Check out my find your roots collection

Finding out that your ancestors came from a foreign country can be an exciting discovery. But this excitement can quickly turn to frustration when you do not know where to look or even how to find what you are looking for.

Genealogy and Family History

That is where my Find Your Roots section of this site will show you guides to help you to discover your British, Canadian, German, Irish, Italian, Jewish, Native American, New York, or Scandinavian ancestry.


14. Create a family history book and a cookbook

One of the great ways to preserve your family history is to write your very own book detailing the lives of your ancestors.

This, as I have covered many times before within this site, is how I became interested in my family history.

Family History Book Templates

My interest in preserving my ancestors’ stories quickly became a fascination into who they were, where they came from, and what else that I could find out about them.

If you do not feel that you are cut out to become a writer then do not worry.

There are plenty of family tree books available where you can fill in the blanks with the information that you know.

Once complete then these can make great presents that you can then pass on to your children.

A cookbook of old family recipes is another great activity that you can share with your family. You may know these off by heart or you may have them written down on scraps of paper.

Well, why not record them in a book?


15. Visit places where your ancestor lived

I have already suggested that you could visit cemeteries where your ancestors once lived. Well, why not visit where they lived and where they worked as well.

Visit Your Ancestors Homeland

By doing so you may feel a closer connection with them. I certainly have and doing this it has inspired me to learn even more about them.


My Final Thoughts

This is a great opportunity for you to not only discover who your ancestors were but also to get your family involved as well.

It doesn’t matter if you choose just one or a few of the activities that I have mentioned. Heck, you may even want to do all 15 of them.

There are just so many ways that you can find information about your ancestors. And there are also many ways that you can preserve their memories and their stories as I have discussed in this post.

So, enjoy this month and get to know your ancestors. Who knows who you will discover and what you will find out about them.

I wish you all the best on your family history journey.

Further Ideas!

If you are looking for further ideas on what to do for this special month then I suggest you check out the ThoughtCo site.

Written by Kimberly Powell here guide entitled 10 Ways to Celebrate Family History Month shows you how to start tracing your roots and getting to know your ancestors.


Thank You and Please Leave A Comment

I hope you enjoyed this post discussing 15 activities that you can do during National Family History Month. If you have any questions or comments then please leave a comment below.

Please share with family and friends if you think this post will help others by using the social media buttons below.

Summary
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National Family History Month Ideas
Description
15 activities that you and your family can do during National Family History Month. There are plenty of ideas that you can do here. What will you choose?
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The Genealogy Guide
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14 thoughts on “15 Activities That You Can Do During National Family History Month!”

  1. Thank you for this lovely article and the related links. I am really looking forward to the month ahead of national family history. I have always been passionate about family history and photos. I will share this on my Facebook page: Our Family Photo Books.

    Kind regards, Lesley

  2. Love the post. I had no idea there a whole month dedicated to your family. I actually do not know much about my families past and this gives me the motivation to do it and look into some good ideas to do stuff with them. Thanks for sharing.

    1. My pleasure Rob. Genealogy, or family history rather, is a popular pastime for many Americans. It is pretty popular the world over. So in my mind it is only right that there be a whole month dedicated to this hobby.

      There are many ways that you can trace your family history as I have pointed out in this post. And there is so much information out there that we can track down.

      I wish you all the best Rob as you try out these activities and learn more about your family tree.

  3. There are so many things we can do to find out who we are and where we come from. And to think there is a dedicated month for family history, it goes to show how important it is.

    1. Yep there sure is a lot that we can do find out about our ancestors. And what with so many branches and relatives to research it will definitely keep you busy.

  4. Owain,
    I didn’t know there was a Family History Month either! My youngest brother is the family historian and has spent a lot of time looking into where we all come from. He lives in Italy and has spent some time in Germany looking up records. I’m going to send him your website address.

  5. hi, interesting article. i have been thinking about using one of the paid genealogy websites for awhile, but it makes sense to start at the beginning and talk to my parents first. i didn’t know there was a national family history month, very cool.

    1. Hi Will thank you for your comment. Genealogy sites can really help you trace out your family tree. It has helped me immensely. I have found so many of my ancestors that way and also find out information about them.

      But yes try to get information for free first. There is no point paying for information that you could get without paying a penny.

      All the best for your genealogy research.

  6. I love ur website!! I did not know there was a month dedicated to family history. My family is really small and I don’t know much about my ancestors. I have completed activities 1-3 and 6. And that was years ago. I think the next steps I’ll take is to complete activities 7 and 9. Do I need to be in USA to be able to use the services of Ancestry, FindMyPast and AncestryDNA?

    1. Thanks for the compliment Sara, it’s much appreciated. I am glad to hear that you are well on your way to tracing your family tree.

      You don’t need to be in the United States to take advantage of Ancestry, FindMyPast and AncestryDNA. These services are also available within Canada, United Kingdom and Australia as well. In time I am sure that they will spread to other countries as well.

  7. Hi Owain
    I am thinking of doing a DNA genealogy test. Do you think they are worth spending money on? Do they produce specific family information or is the information just general?

    Just as a matter of interest. If someone was adopted and doesn’t know their real parents. Can a DNA genealogy test help them to find their real parents?

    Thanks

    1. Hi Anita, thank you for your comment and your questions. I definitely do think that DNA testing is well worth the money. Ancestry DNA for example can show you where your ancestors originated from. So they can show you where you can look next.

      A DNA test could find their real parents but only if they have been tested. Mind you their siblings could also have been tested and the real parents could be tracked down through them.

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