Give A Genealogy Gift for the Holidays

It’s the season for gift-giving, and what better way to celebrate than giving your friends and family a genealogy gift?

DGS member Barbara Ware gives genealogy gifts not only for the holidays, but also for birthdays.  She organizes family photos and creates books to share with her niece or nephew. 

“Putting the photos in chronological order makes all the difference.  It tells their story,” Barbara says. “My nephew called me afterwards and started asking questions about our family history.”

If making a book sounds too overwhelming, there are many companies with websites that will help, providing formats and even organizing the photos you upload. The websites also offer other options, such as using a single photo to create a keepsake, like an ornament, or an item for everyday use, such as a coffee mug.

For a different approach, you might want to take advantage of the sales happening at consumer DNA companies and buy a test for one of your relatives. Their results will be a gift for them and for you, adding to your research!

Another simpler option?  

Print out a family tree – on regular paper – and send it in the box if you are mailing presents, since fewer people are traveling to see relatives in person this year.  Or make copies of family photos to share and send those instead. When you speak with those recipients, you may get a chance to share more information with them.

Finally, consider Zoom. If you will be meeting your family virtually for the holidays, you can share your screen and show old photos, and give the gift that they will be most likely to remember – the stories that you share with them about your family.

Happy holidays!

Image credit: Arek Socha/Pixabay. License: Public domain.