← Ages 12 and up

Family History Timeline

Interview your elders about dates, places and moves. Build a timeline of your family’s story and a map of its journeys, to keep.

History
Geography
Interviewing
Family stories

“Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: ask thy father, and he will shew thee; thy elders, and they will tell thee.” Deuteronomy 32:7

Family name Family name

Family branches

Like “Grandpa Joe’s side” or “the Okafors”. Each branch gets its own colour on the timeline and its own route on the map. Leave blank if you like.

Keep it safe

You’ll need

An elder to interview, and time to listen
A notebook and pencil
A long roll of paper (brown paper or lining paper), or sheets taped together
Markers, tape, and copies of old photos (not the originals)

Family History

Talking with

Then ask

A date, a place or a move? Add it to the timeline. Some memories are sad or private; it’s fine to skip a question.

Colour by kind Colour by branch

Scroll sideways for more →

Family journeys

Every move

Add an event

Year

Month

Day

What happened?

Kind

Moved from

Where?

Who?

Family branch

The story

Save and print

Print

No printer? Copy the timeline from the screen onto your roll of paper, one event at a time, leaving room for drawings and photos.

How to play

Sit down with an elder, like a grandparent or a great-aunt, with a notebook and time to listen.
In Interview, ask one question at a time, then the follow-ups. When an answer has a date, a place or a move, tap Add this as an event.
Give each event a year (and a month or day if they remember), what happened, where and who. A move has a from and a to.
In Timeline, see the family’s story decade by decade. Turn on World events to see what was happening in Canada and the world at the same time.
In Journeys, follow each branch of the family from place to place.
Make the keepsake: print the long timeline, tape the pages into one long roll, and add drawings and photos. Or print the poster.

Good interviewing

Ask “How old were you?” or “Who was Prime Minister?” to pin down a year. “About 1950” is fine; say so in the story.
Old photos, letters and certificates help people remember. Handle them gently and use copies.
Some memories are sad or private. Let the elder choose what to share.
Write a favourite saying word for word.

For mixed ages

Teens ask the questions and type. Younger ones draw pictures for the roll.
Grown-ups can help check dates and how places are spelled.
Take care with scissors when you trim the pages of the roll.

Keeping it safe

Everything is kept in this browser, on this device only. Use Save to a file often, and keep a copy somewhere safe or send it to relatives.
Open a file on another device to carry on there. You can add its events to yours or replace yours.

Keys on a computer

I, T and J switch between Interview, Timeline and Journeys. Enter presses the main button. S opens Save and print.
Interview: ← and → move between questions, E adds an event. Timeline: W shows world events, P makes the poster.