It’s no secret that I LOVE family history. I’ve been pouring over pedigrees and journals since elementary school. Attending Roots Tech earlier this year fueled my family history fire and since then it’s been my goal to get my family just as excited about exploring their roots.
We’ve done Family History Jeopardy and have a trip to the Family History Discovery Center in Salt Lake coming up later this month, but one of my favorite ideas so far has been Family History Bingo. Everyone LOVES BINGO – it is a classic game. Adding in ancestors and stories to a game that children are familiar with makes it a win/win for everyone.
Family History Bingo was uber easy to make! Here’s how I did mine.
Log on to FamilySearch.org. If you don’t have an account, it is free and easy to sign up! From my account, I was able to access all the family photos you see above and download them. While you are collecting the family photos, be sure to copy and paste a fact or story for each person into a word document for the individual BINGO photo cards that you draw.
Make a collage in PicMonkey. Use a photo program like Pic Monkey to make a collage.
Click on collage and upload your pictures. I saved all of mine in the same folder for easy uploading.
Next click on layout – the boxes.
Click on Square Deal for the BINGO format. I used 4×4, but you can also use the traditional 5×5 for BINGO.
Once you have your layout, click back on the photo icon at the top. Drag and drop each of your photos into the squares.
Voila! You have a BINGO card. Repeat the process for each BINGO card.
Print and laminate. I printed mine off at home, but you may want to go with a professional printing service to get the best quality.
Once printed, I laminated mine for durability. Here is my favorite laminator and sheets.
For the key, I made a regular bingo card, laminated it, and then cut out the individual photos. Before I laminated the pictures, I wrote the person’s name on the back along with a fact or story about them. I put all the pictures in a bowl for the children to randomly draw from.
If your family doesn’t have much info on FamilySearch.org (it’s a great time to add it!), you can do it from personal family photos and stories as well.
Family History BINGO is such a fun and easy way to introduce your children to their ancestors. My children, nieces, and nephews loved matching the pictures on their cards to the pictures I was holding up. Plus it created an easy environment to share their stories. We talked about Great-Grandpa Vic who jumped over a ditch everyday on the way to school and went on to set jumping records for the state. We giggled over the serious picture of Great-Great-Great-Great Grandma Celia who was known to be quite the jokester.
I hope you have just as much fun with your Family History BINGO cards as we did! Tag me on instagram if you make a set – @Keepmovingforwardwithme – I would love to see.
What are your favorite ways to explore family history with your children?
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28 Comments
Rebecca Bryant · August 10, 2015 at 7:40 am
what a fun way to learn. I bet kids would have a grand time playing this.
Robin Rue (@massholemommy) · August 10, 2015 at 9:28 am
That is such an awesome idea. I love this SO Much!
Dawn McAlexander · August 10, 2015 at 10:42 am
That would be really cool to play. I think knowing the family history is also exciting!
Heidi · August 10, 2015 at 12:28 pm
I love this idea. We have a family card game that includes us and the kids’ grandparents. I love this idea to teach kids about their ancestors. I love that you can tell a quick story about each ancestor as you play. Hmm. I’m thinking this would be a great project for my daughter to make for a goal for Young Women’s.
Alison Moore Smith · August 10, 2015 at 1:16 pm
Very clever idea. That would be fun even with, say, cousins for families that live far away from each other. Nice!
Heather Lawrence · August 10, 2015 at 3:29 pm
Oh that is fun!!
So many great ideas with this 🙂
Love the old family pictures too 🙂
Helene Cohen Bludman · August 10, 2015 at 4:30 pm
What a fun idea! I am fascinated by geneology.
Lorane · August 10, 2015 at 6:41 pm
I love this idea. I have an issue with PicMonkey .. sometimes it freezes so bad which makes it hard to use. I like any type of game that is interactive.
Chelle OJSA · August 10, 2015 at 7:21 pm
Love this idea for my kids since we don’t live near my family! Having my mom make some cards up and going to laminate them. Thanks so much for a wonderful idea.
Elizabeth Towns · August 10, 2015 at 8:14 pm
This is going to be awesome for our family reunion coming up next year. This is one of our larger events, and you’ve just given me a great idea to help the younger ones find out more about family members they may not know!
Debbie Denny · August 10, 2015 at 8:51 pm
As a family history buff… I love this. A fantastic idea.
Sara · August 10, 2015 at 9:22 pm
This is super cool and such a great way to teach the kids about their ancestry! My girls would love it.
Wendy @ ABCs and Garden Peas · August 10, 2015 at 9:33 pm
How creative! PicMonkey is such a great tool. You can use it to make just about anything!
Carol Bryant · August 11, 2015 at 12:08 am
What a neat way to engage the family and have fun – love the idea of paper and fun!
Heather D. (@GirlGoneMom) · August 11, 2015 at 6:19 am
This is a great idea for a game. I love digging for info on relatives I never met.
Tina @ My Highest Self · August 11, 2015 at 7:48 am
What a creative idea! Thanks for the step by step instructions.
Ourfamilyworld · August 11, 2015 at 8:39 am
What a brilliant idea. This is a super fun way to teach kids about family history. I’d love to try this.
Erica · August 11, 2015 at 9:06 am
I love this idea. I used to do tons of family history but I have found it hard to find time now that I have little kids. I think this would be a great way to get kids thinking about family history.
linda spiker · August 11, 2015 at 9:25 am
Wow. Cute idea for working the brain and learning family history! Love the picmonkey tip!
Laura funk · August 11, 2015 at 11:00 am
This is pretty cool. I am going to check out the family history site right now
angie · August 11, 2015 at 12:12 pm
how super cool I love this I am always telling younger generations of those that went on before this would be perfect for family reunion
Rosey · August 11, 2015 at 1:23 pm
Well that’s a fun way to play Bingo. It would help to effortlessly share the family history too. Cool!
Claudia Krusch · August 11, 2015 at 2:15 pm
Love the idea! It’s a project I will definitely try in the fall!
Grace Lane · August 13, 2015 at 5:42 pm
What a fun idea and a great way to bring ancestors to life.
Joann Woolley · August 16, 2015 at 12:50 pm
What a great way to use family photos! I can see this being used for family reunions or milestone birthdays etc… Thank you for linking up to Bloggers Brags, I’m pinning your post now!
Notional · April 16, 2018 at 6:16 am
I love this idea. We have a family card game that includes us and the kids’ grandparents.
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