Making a family tree can be a big project. These tips will help you grow a great one! You may want to print this page out, and read it again as you work on your tree.

Choose a Section:

• Dig, Dig, Dig
  Find out about your family.
• Roots, Trunk, Branches, Leaves...
  Organize and create your tree.
• Hydrate It!
  Take care of your tree and share it with others.

Dig, Dig, Dig!

Find out everything you can about the members of your family. Building a tree will be much easier that way. (Don't worry if you can't find everything. Just get what you can!) Here's one way to keep track of what you learn:

1. Get supplies: a pen or pencil, plus index cards or pieces of paper to write on.
2. Make a record for each member of your family. Index cards work well for this! Use one index card for each person, and start with yourself.
3. On each person's card, write down:
   • Name
     Include first, middle, and last names -- if you know them. If the person changed his or her name at some point, you can write down the earlier name too.
   • Date of birth
     Month, day, and year, or just as much as you can find out.
   • Date of death (if he or she has passed away)
     Ditto -- just write down what you know.
   • Biographical note
     Any extra information you want: the person's nickname -- or birthplace -- or physical appearance, like hair or eye color --or a job or hobby, etc.

   Here's an example:

   Clara Anne (Keller) Stein
   Born: 1910
   Died: February 25, 1999
   Bio: Born in Germany. Moved to America in 1938.

4. After making cards for yourself and the family members you know well, see how many cards you can make for people from your extended family. Extended family? That could include your aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, close family friends, etc.
   
   Ask a parent or other family member to help you. Is there someone who knows a lot about the family? Someone who has written down family stories you can read? Someone who has organized a family reunion? Be a detective, and get the inside scoop on as many family members as you can!
5. Next, make a new card for each important event that connects people. These can include marriages, births, adoptions, divorces, family events, etc. Write down the names of the people connected by the event, the type of event, and the date, if you know it.
   
   A few examples:

   Jennifer Stein, William Cheng
   Married in 1988

   Elizabeth Cheng
   Born to Jennifer and William Cheng, May 3, 1995

6. Pat yourself on the back! Finding information is the hardest part of building a family tree. (We suggest doing the back pat when no one is looking... because, let's face it, you're going to look a little funny.)

Now comes the REALLY fun part -- putting it all together.

Grow a Tree will help you build your tree on your computer. Want to build your tree on paper instead? Read on!

Roots, Trunk, Branches, Leaves...

What should your tree look like? That's your decision! Some family trees have the oldest family members up top, with younger people branching downward. But you can do it any way you want... it's YOUR tree, after all. Check out the samples in Grow a Tree if you need some inspiration.

1. Get supplies: several big pieces of paper, a pencil, an eraser, and a pen. It's also good to have a ruler and some tape.
2. Lay out your individual family member cards on a clean surface, like a big table. Move the pieces around to form your family tree. Place any event cards between people (aren't you glad you wrote down people's names on the event cards?).
3. Draw your tree based on the arrangement you've laid out. Use extra sheets of paper to extend your tree if you run out of space! You can tape them together to make a Super Big Tree.
4. Using any dates you've collected in your tree, build a timeline, starting with the earliest date you know, that tracks your family's history. Make sure you leave some space between each event. Next, take a look at the Grow a Tree timeline of events going back to 1900. Add some historical events from our timeline into your family timeline.

Hydrate It!

Ok, so this isn't the kind of tree you need to water. But since you've done all this hard work, why not dig a little deeper?

1. Share your tree with friends and other family members. Mail or e-mail a copy of your tree to your relatives or friends. You never know... maybe they have more info for Version 2.0 of your tree!
2. Take a look at the historical events in your family timeline. Ask people in your family about these events. What do they remember? Record their thoughts and memories to create a family history journal.
3. Put a face to that name! If you can, gather photos of the people in your tree. Ask faraway relatives to send you new photos. You can make copies of the photos, and tape or glue all those smiling faces onto your tree. Which family members look like each other?
4. Pick one or two people from your tree that you find interesting, and learn their stories. Try to piece together what they were really like. What did they do every day? What music, or books, or sports, did they like? What are the family's favorite stories about them? What important events did they live through?

Imagine that in a hundred years, one of your descendants will be trying to find out about YOU! What kind of clues will you leave for them?