Children Writing Women’s History

March is Women’s History Month and the month holds Genealogy Day on the 12th. What are children doing to record their family stories? Are they capturing stories about their female ancestors? There are many ways to involved children in Women’s History Month and Genealogy Day. Let’s look at a few.

Interview female relatives

Children can participate in their family history and Women’s History Month by interviewing female relatives. The interview topic or range of questions can be about anything. Let the child design and run the interview with some help from an adult if needed.

Children of all ages can conduct interviews. Young children can just ask any question that pops into their head. Write down the question exactly as they ask it. This will make for funny and interesting reading as they grow and look back on the questions they asked and how they asked them. One of my five year old twins interviewed me for a blog post yesterday and most of his questions were based around Dr. Seuss since that is what he was learning about in school this week. Older children may ask more serious questions about the life or work of the woman. Bottom line is to just go with the flow. There are no wrong questions.

Write a story

After interviewing a female relative, have the child write a story. Another option is to have them write a story about something they heard or about their mom or grandma. Share the story with family members. Stories can be typed or written on paper. The child can add photographs or draw pictures to illustrate the story. Be sure to write somewhere on the story how old the child is when it was created. These are treasured keepsakes.

Start researching the family

Genealogy Day is March 12th and what a great day to start researching the family tree! They can begin by recording what they know about the family. Branch off from there. Did you have a female ancestor that was famous or did some amazing thing? Conduct a little more research on her or the event and add that to the family history. Those facts will help her come alive.

Create a scrapbook

Collect photographs of female relatives and ancestors and help the child create a scrapbook or photo album. Include the names of the women and any facts known. Facts may include when they were born, who they married and when, when did they die, what occupation did they have, and any hobbies. The pages can be decorated with stickers or drawings or whatever the child desires.

Blog or start a journal

Start a blog or journal about your family history and specifically the female ancestors. Lisa Alzo of the Accidental Genealogist has 31 Blogging Prompts for March’s Women’s History Month. Her series is called “Fearless Females.” Use these prompts to start your journal or blog. There is no requirement to write every prompt and there is no wrong way to write your answers. The point is to record the stories and memories.

These are a few ways to get children involved in Women’s History Month and Genealogy Day. Whatever activities you begin, just have fun and remember these amazing women that have come before us and added to our family history.