When you hear the word “family” a picture of the people closest to you may come to mind.  How about the word generation? Understanding what a generation is may be a little more challenging. A generation is a group of individuals who are all about the same age.  When we think about the people in our current and future generations, we can also think about past generations.  Who are these people?  How are we connected to them?  In this activity you will create a family tree and explore how you are related to people in other generations.

In this activity, your family will:

• Go outside and gather materials to create a family tree
• Create a family tree collage with found materials
• Show relationships between family members in at least three generations

Materials needed:

• Found items to create a tree collage (i.e. Bark, sticks, grass, dried leaves)
• A base for your tree collage (i.e. cardboard, paper, any other type of board)
• Glue (bottled school glue or a hot glue gun will work best)
• Paper
• Scissors
• Markers, crayons, or pencils

Note – If you are unable to create the collage, drawing a tree will work just fine.

Key Words to know:

Family Tree – a diagram showing the relationships between people in several generations of a family

Generation – a group of individuals, most of whom are the same approximate age

Preparation:

• Collect items to use when you create your family tree collage.
• Find a base for your collage project. This can be a piece of cardboard, heavy paper, or a board. Cut it to the size you would like for the project.

Do the Activity:

1. Head outside with a bag, box, or bucket. Collect items to use for your collage. These will be your “found objects” and could be pieces of bark, sticks, pinecones, dry leaves, or grasses.  You may, or may not, use everything you collect, and you can always go back outside to find more materials.
2. Let your materials dry, if necessary.
3. Set up the base for your collage on your workspace. Arrange your found objects until you like the way your tree looks.  It doesn’t have to be perfect, there is no right way to do it.
4. Use your paper and scissors to cut out a tag for each person on your family tree. (Be sure to make the tags large enough to write on.) Write each person’s name on a tag with crayons, markers, or pencils. Make a tag for each of these people so you have three generations on your family tree:

• • • You
    • Your siblings
    • Your parents
    • Mom’s parents
    • Dad’s parents

5. If you would like to expand your family tree, you can add to it. Some options may be:

• • • Your mom’s siblings (aunts and uncles)
    • Their children (your cousins)
    • Your dad’s siblings (aunts and uncles)
    • Their children (your cousins)
    • Mom’s grandparents
    • Dad’s grandparents
    • Your siblings’ children (your nieces and nephews)

6. Arrange each person’s tag on your tree collage to show how the generations are related. You can re-arrange items in your tree collage to help everyone fit where they belong.
7. Using your glue gun or your bottle of glue, attach your found items and tags to the base. Let it dry or cool.  Feel free to decorate it any way you like.

Wyo Wonders uses the following definition for stewardship:

As Wyoming citizens, we are entrusted with the responsible development, care, and use of our resources to benefit current and future generations.

Learn more through our Wyo Wonders curriculum here!