I hope I don’t make any enemies when I say this but I don’t like genealogy.  I do not care for searching and digging in dusty newspapers, mildewy microfiche, or crusty courthouse records for birth dates, marriage licenses, or death certificates.  Dates, dates, dates — B-O-R-I-N-G.

But the funny thing is that the random guy on the street or the stranger in the line at the grocery store seems to feel compelled to tell me their genealogy back to Adam.  What, do I have a sign on my back that says ‘Tell me your genealogy.  Every detail of it.’

However, the stories and the pictures are a horse of a different color.  Stories are more interesting than dates.  At least to me.  And, what a better time to share family stories than as your family gathers for Thanksgiving.

The Family Tree Kids! site has the goal of making family history fun.  (Good luck.)  One activity on their site explains how to make magnets of old family photos.  I really like this idea. Their directions on how to make these magnets is simple enough that I think my craft-challenged hands wouldn’t bungle this project too much.  Here is another site that gives good step by step instructions and plenty of ideas for pretty magnets.  The site Not Martha also has some really cute magnets.  (I like the mini tropical vacation one and the opaque Christmas ones — and I really identify with the title of her site because I am SO not Martha.)

Your grandchildren might enjoy hearing the stories of their ancestors as they make picture magnets of those folks.  I can’t think of a better way to have some fun while sharing family history.  But then I’m fun-challenged when it’s connected to genealogy.

You might want to contact some of your family members prior to Thanksgiving and ask them to bring copies of old photos that they could donate to the magnet-making project.  Or, maybe bring photos of current family members.  But better hurry.  Thanksgiving is just two days away.

In case you have cynical non-genealogist grandchildren (that are like me), they could use pictures of their friends to make a flock of magnets. Or use pictures from magazines, scrapbook paper, or possibly draw mini-portraits of friends or family to use.

My niece has these cute magnets on her fridge.  The top three are of her, her husband, and their son.  I think they are a hoot.

Maybe your grandchildren would want to bring their own school picture to use and give the magnet to you for your fridge.  Or they could take a picture of their pet before they come on Thanksgiving and use that picture for the magnet.

Maybe you could have a digital camera available for grandchildren to take candid photos of those family members who came to the Thanksgiving dinner.

If all else fails, maybe they could find pictures from places like fotopedia.com or picsearch.com.

This is an activity that is easy to prepare for and easy to do.  If you have an overly-stuffed-stomach after eating a scrumptious Thanksgiving meal, you can make a few magnets and then find a quiet place for a snooze..

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