lesson 1A: family history games

Overview: STORY GENERATING IDEAS
games such as Life Stories, Jenga blocks (with a question taped on each block),
draw a question out of a jar over dinner
tell about one of your ancestors during family home evening
write one story a week by answering questions at  52 stories 

WE NEED TO GET THE YOUNGER GENERATION INVOLVED OR OUR FAMILY HISTORY WILL DIE WITH US.

Bringing family history to life for the younger generation.

They like pictures, games and activities.  (demonstrate in class by having game stations for each person to rotate around and try - 5 minutes at each spot.  Culminate with "tasting" stories and treats.)

1.  At dinnertime, try drawing questions out of a jar (or answering LifeStories cards) to get to know each other and your ancestors better.

2. Play Life Stories at your next family gathering.  (You may want to bring a tape recorder or paper and pencil to record some of the answers!)

3. Put questions on Jenga blocks.  When you pull out a block, you have to answer the question taped on it (such as what is your favorite holiday?  your favorite type of cookie?  How do you like to eat potatoes?)

FAMILY REUNION GAMES

2009 Cardon reunion:

 I created a 100 page book entitled "Highlights from our Heritage." I have found that stories are usually passed down your direct line of descent, so I knew almost nothing about the brothers and sisters or spouses. In this book I gathered together favorite stories from all of the original family members, along with pictures, games, recipes, and things that would bring these stories to life. Making the book was a project in and of itself and included some research. Teaching from the book is what I got to do today at the reunion.

I taught two 30 minute classes. The first one, called "Ancestral Pursuit", included a trivia guessing game, stories about crossing the plains, and buffalo chip cookies. (Our oven has been broken since July 23, so I had to go to a neighbor's house to bake the cookies.) 
The second class was "My cup over-floweth with gratitude." We talked about carrying the soil back up the mountainside, ate dirt cups, mentioned the difficulties of getting water in Mexico, and played a water from the well game.

2011 Cardon family reunion breakout classes for the youth:

"Get a clue, highlights from our heritage" (based on the book I compiled in 2009.) The first 25 minutes we played a game. I had pictures posted on the white board of our ancestors with their spouses (names included.) Then I would read off four fun facts about each person. The two teams were given bells to ring if they thought they knew the answer. If they correctly identified the person, they got a smartie. If they guessed wrong, a dum-dum was deposited in their collection jar. Our room was filled but mainly with kids and teenagers. When grandma and grandpa Cardon walked into the room all the kids wanted grandpa on their team -- as if he knew all those ancestors personally! 

[Note: You can adapt "Get a Clue" for Family Home Evening.
Here are some examples of Get a Clue hints:
     lived in an octagon-shaped house

     lived to be 100

(Helen Ruth Poehlman Huber)

     attended 22 different schools before graduating from high school

     has more books than the local library

     collects Legos

(Jay Huber)]

I called my next class "A Taste of Italy." On the table I had placed different foods and covered them with bandannas. A volunteer would come up and pull the bandanna off one item. I would then tell the story associated with that food item. For example: the girl who milked the goat for the goat's milk, how the people carried dirt back up the mountains of Italy for the dirt cup, using buffalo chips for firewood when crossing the plains (chocolate cookies), how they baked 100 pounds of flour to make bread for those who came to listen to the missionaries (Artisan French bread) and how the roads were so bumpy crossing the plains that they put the cow's milk in the butter churn in the morning, added the dasher and would have butter by the time they pulled into camp that evening. (My kids helped make fresh butter by shaking the heavy cream in a jar and adding a pinch of salt. It tasted great on that French bread!) We also had freeze-dried strawberries, and fresh grapes (remember Philippe brought cuttings from his vineyard in Italy and planted them in Ogden and Logan.) I told the stories of the grasshoppers eating the wheat (planted 40 bushels, reaped 7) and how the Saints got water in Mexico after a huge earthquake. We were about half-way through sampling and telling stories when the call came to go to lunch. Reluctantly they left the room, but many came up to me and asked if we could come back after lunch and finish the class. I've never had such eager and enthusiastic pupils before so I readily agreed. The kids left the room that day giving hugs and high fives to their new-found "cousins" and friends. 

We sold out of all remaining copies of "Highlights from our Heritage" and there was a waiting list of at least 25 people who paid their money and asked to have a book mailed to them when we reprinted. (Since that book was the basis for my classes, I'd say it was a huge success.) 

Anecdote:  All of our family wore their matching blue shirts from 2 years ago -- we just rotate them through those shirts with Ann Elyse being gone from the top and Emma coming in at the bottom! As I was standing in the lunch line a gentleman tried to read my shirt which was slightly creased. He asked me, "What does that mean: "I'm an imported branch on the Cardon family tree"?" I had to laugh because the word was supposed to be "important". "That means I've been graphed in," I replied. And so I have. David's family is my family and I relish the heritage our children enjoy.

check these sites out for free downloads of other games

matching game

Bingo

ADDITIONAL INFO

review: Did you write a story for 52 stories?  What did you rediscover about yourself?  (example: just cruisin'.  The value was not in the trip itinerary, but remembering the Lord's tender mercies.  I was there, but I had forgotten.  That is why we write it down!)

As memorable as the cruise itself, was the miraculous way we were able to get to the ship in 2002. Security at the airport had been heightened due to the Winter Olympic games. By 8:00 am we were seated comfortably on a full flight to Houston, Texas waiting on the runway when the pilot's voice comes over the PA system to announce that one of the caution lights on the display panel in the cockpit is malfunctioning. Re-powering the plane didn't do the trick. It was mandatory to fix the part before takeoff. A few minutes later we get the report that a valve near the rear of the plane has frozen leaving us without water. Everyone is asked to get off the plane to be rerouted during repairs. We were sent over to the Delta terminal to wait in line as standbys for their flight to Houston. In a highly unusual set of circumstances the 9:00 flight was also canceled due to technical malfunctions, so there were two full planes worth of passengers to reroute. After waiting in line for an hour, we were informed that they could fit one of us on their full flight but not both. Did we want to split up? No. We watched the plane leave without us knowing there was no way to catch our connecting flight in Houston. The soonest Continental could get us to Miami was 10:13 pm, but the ship sailed at 10 pm. They offered free lodging in Miami and a connecting flight the next morning to our first port of call in Key West, Florida, but it was the best they could do. Our luggage would be arriving in Miami without us. David was heading to the food court when part of a conversation caught my ear. I don't speak much Spanish, but I could have sworn that a group of people nearby were boarding for Houston back at the counter we just left. [I practically dragged David back to the counter with me to investigate.]  Sure enough. The original plane we were schedule to take to Houston had the panel light fixed and was going to limp into Houston without any water. The 6 or 7 people boarding the plane were all crew members. When we asked if we could fly with them, they agreed (although it was technically breaking the rules, but then again, nothing had gone according to plan yet!) The crew had placed some bottled water in the restroom sink for washing hands. David and I sat in first class ... we all did! It is probably the closest we will ever come to having a private flight. When we landed in Houston, we caught the staff off-guard as they weren't expecting any paying passengers to be on board. It was 3:00. If we hurried we could catch a flight to Miami that was leaving at 3:15. The lady at the desk phoned ahead for us. The flight was full, so we couldn't sit together, but we were grateful just to be sitting on the plane at all! I heard the person boarding behind me mention that they had got the last two seats on the flight (which meant we had the 3rd and 4th to the last.) We made it to Miami by 7, rejoined our luggage, and got to the cruise ship by 8:30 pm. I was so grateful to not have to swim out to sea to catch the ship. I thanked the Lord for letting us make our connections in a very non-standard fashion.

I discovered that truth again today.  Sometimes when we are looking for one thing, we find something else of greater worth.  Today, I was trying to locate some games used at a family reunion.  In the search I found the supplemental history I wrote in 2012 for the decade following the life history of Charles Cardon which I had previously written and put in a book.  That supplement had been lost when the computer external hard drive crashed.  The illustrated and printed copy is all that remains.  (I shall now scan it and upload to family search).  -- Jan 15, 2017

2015 Cardon family reunion projects:

5 minute music video of 2014 Italy trip

power point presentation of Waldensian history