Lately, I’ve been on a family history kick. Have you noticed with all my RootsTech info and my recent post about why it is vital to tell your kids your family stories? Well, I’ve decided that family history is so important and I want to know more! The hardest part for me is keeping track of all the names of my ancestors. But I desperately want to know them by name. And I want my kidlets to know them too. So I came up with this EASY game to help us know our ancestors names using the free family tree printables at FamilySearch. Don’t Eat Grandpa Pete is a fun family history game for kids to play. It’s just like Don’t Eat Pete, but with a genealogy twist.
FamilySearch now has free printable family trees and this makes this game soooo easy! An account at FamilySearch is totally free and you can find your ancestors. All you have to do is sign in and it automatically creates these different family tree styles for you. Pick the one you want and print away!
How to Play DON’T EAT GRANDPA PETE
You will need:
1 family tree with visible family names on it (like the FamilySearch printable trees)
1 bag of small candies to cover each of the names (M&Ms, Skittles, Reese’s Pieces, marshmallows, raisins, etc). You will need enough for several rounds.
Print one of the free FamilySearch family tree printables (or use your own). Put a piece of candy on each family name.
Send one person out of the room.
While the player is out, decide as a group which family tree name will be “Grandpa Pete” for this round. Make sure everyone agrees and knows which name is “it”. Have the person come back in to the room. Keep the chosen name a secret. The player then proceeds to pick one candy at a time and eat it. The player continues to eat until they come to the name that was chosen to be “Grandpa Pete.” When they touch the candy on the secretly chosen name, everyone in the room exclaims, “DON’T EAT GRANDPA PETE!” And that player’s turn is over. Replace all the names with candy and send a new player out of the room while the group picks a new name to be “Grandpa Pete”. Repeat until everyone has had a turn.
This game will help family members become more familiar with the names on their family tree. It is played just like the popular game “Don’t Eat Pete” but I like calling it “Don’t Eat Grandpa Pete!” to help us remember this is about our ancestors.
You could tell some stories about the names of the people on your family tree and help your kids know their roots.
I hope this game helps your family get to know the names of your ancestors!
I’d love to hear your comments! And please share!
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