Fun Family Projects – Create Your Own Books

Creating your own books is a great project that the whole family can get in on. Here are some ideas to help get you started.

Photo Books: Immortalize a great vacation or special event by creating its own photo book. This is a project that can involve every member of your family and use all of their creative talents. For instance, ff everyone has his or her own camera, you can divide the book into chapters or sections for each family member to display their photographic prowess. Or, of course, you can simply document the vacation – where you went, what you did, who got the worst sunburn, in the order in which it happened. Other great ideas for photo books include: weddings, surprise parties, birthdays, holidays, visits from relatives, and field trips. When it comes to photo books, your options really are unlimited.

Family Cookbooks: Have you ever wished that all of your grandmother’s recipes were all gathered in one place? Chances are the rest of your extended family does too, and that they would truly appreciate a cookbook that brought them all together. And that’s just one idea for a family cookbook. You can also gather all of your family’s current faves, put them together in one book along with some short bios, and you will have a family heirloom that will stand the test of time, and that will be lots of fun to collect and to put together.

Family History: With a little research and a little help from the older generation and, of course, the rest of your family, you can write and compile a wonderfully complete family history book. Dig in and do some genealogical research, interview as many of your family members as you can, and get records and photographs from those who want to participate, and you will be well on your way to creating a keepsake of a book that will stay on the shelves and coffee tables of your family for generations to come.

Reunion Books: A few months before your next family reunion, send out a questionnaire to all participating families and ask for some recent favorite photographs as well. Then you can put them all together in a book that the families can take with them when they go. This gives families that may not see each other all that often something to remember each other by, and a nice addition to any family history. When you send out your questionnaires, do it by email and give families plenty of time to get their information together. If the reunion is coming up and you haven’t heard from them yet, you can send out gentle reminders.

Family Yearbooks: Starting with the holidays, record what goes in in your family, the daily triumphs and stumbles in written and photographic form and put them together in a family yearbook. This is a great way to make sure that all of the great little things that make a family special are remembered forever. Things to include are family trips, sporting activities, and special events. Putting this all together at the end of the year is something that all will enjoy.