A Family History Timeline
Kids love stories! Give children a glimpse of where they’ve come from by creating a big picture timeline of the extended family. Passing on your family history can include more than just oral stories. Artifacts, special gifts, and photographs all add to the richness of the family. Because children hear about overcoming challenges, they’ll be encouraged as they continue the family story.
One way to preserve the history of a family is with a timeline. Gail Berger’s handwritten timeline is a testament of love, perseverance, and celebration. Each year, family members identify special events for the timeline. The memorable events are marked on the timeline.
Gail started with the year her father was born. The early years are marked with births, baptisms, marriages, deaths, occupations, and other interesting facts. She has included world events as well, providing a visual history of years gone by.
Creating a Family History Timeline
How does she do it? Each decade is noted on the edge of the roll of paper. Ten lines between each decade marker representing the years between. Stickers and written comments denoting special events are placed in the appropriate year. Once a year at a family gathering, the kids share notable events they want to add to the Berger Timeline. Recent years are full of everything notable including first cars, graduations, jobs, special event, and awards.
The timeline is a representation of God’s plan for Gail’s beautiful family. At a glance, the grandchildren can see who came before and where each one fits into this amazing family story. Children are reminded to trust in the Lord through joys and sorrows, just as family members have in past generations
Try creating your own visual family history. We would love to hear about how you are preserving and sharing your family history with your children and grandchildren. Share your ideas HERE!
A very special thank you to Gail Berger for sharing her thoughts and ideas for connecting with her grandchildren. Carol and I enjoyed our time with Gail! Information regarding Gail’s ministry, The Blessing House, can be found HERE.
If you haven’t purchased a copy of Faithful Grandparenting: Practical Ideas for Connecting the Generations, click HERE to order.
© 2022 Becky Danielson. All rights reserved.
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