MonDay ArtDay: How to Make a Family Tree

Even the simplest family tree can make an elegant, meaningful gift for your loved ones and a perfect addition to a wall of family photos.

To start, make a list of the names you want to include in your tree. The more generations and branches you include, the denser and more detailed your tree will be. Also consider adding birth dates and locations, which will give your tree a sense of history and place.

After you’ve made your list, draw a rectangle on the bottom half of the paper you’ve chosen and label the rectangle with your name and information. Beside your name add a rectangle for your spouse or partner. Draw a horizontal line connecting the two rectangles, and then another, vertical line down the page.  At the end of the vertical line draw another rectangle for the name and information of your child. Now you can add your siblings and parents, and the siblings and parents of your spouse or partner on their half of the tree.

If you want to spice things up a bit, there are plenty of variations on the basic family tree. If you like, you can reverse the generational flow of things and place your child/ren at the top of the tree as the uppermost branches, while your ancestors make up the trunk and the roots. Collage is a wonderful way to add color and texture to your family tree – photocopy your old family photos and collage them with old newspaper clippings, magazine advertisements, and other images that will evoke times past.

And for a family tree project your kids can do with you, cut brown construction paper into a trunk and branches and use leaf rubbings to add the names. Or if you’d rather have something a bit more three-dimensional, find a twig with enough small branches and secure it in the bottom of a paper cup with a lump of clay. Then make a green construction paper leaf for each member of the family. Punch a whole in each leaf and tie the leaves to the twig branches with ribbon or yarn.

No matter how you make it, a family tree is a wonderful way to teach your children about where they’re from and the family who loves them.