How to make a family tree with young kids

To make a family tree with a young child, start with photos of the people they know, put your child at the center, and add one generation at a time while you tell a short story about each person. For toddlers, a photo tree on the fridge is plenty. For four- and five-year-olds, a drawn tree with handprint leaves and a few family stories is a lovely project. If your family does not fit a tidy tree, use a family house or circles instead.

I have two small kids, and the version of this that works in our house is mostly about the stories, not the chart. Here is how to do it at each age.

Why bother with a family tree at three or four?

Small children will not remember who was whose great-aunt. What they take in is that they belong to a group of people with stories. There is some research on why that matters. A 2008 study found that children's and adolescents' knowledge of family history was significantly correlated with higher self-esteem, better family functioning and lower anxiety, among other measures. A 2024 review in Personality and Social Psychology Review looks at intergenerational storytelling as a resource for positive psychosocial development, including for families from marginalized groups.

Two cautions: these are correlations, and the studies are mostly about older kids. But a family tree project costs nothing, and it gives you a natural reason to tell the stories.

Ages 2 to 3: a photo tree

At this age, a family tree is a set of faces your child can point to and name.

1. Print photos of the people your child knows: parents, siblings, grandparents, the aunt who visits, the dog.
2. Draw a simple trunk and branches on a big sheet, or use a door or wall.
3. Put your child's photo at the base or in the middle, then parents and siblings, then grandparents.
4. Play "who's that?" Point and name, then let your child point and name.

Keep it up where they can see it. A tree on the fridge gets talked about every morning. For grandparents who live far away, this is a good way to keep them familiar between visits; see our ideas for long-distance grandparents.

Ages 4 to 5: a drawn tree with stories

By 4, the CDC milestones include drawing a person with three or more body parts and talking about at least one thing that happened during the day. That makes this the age when kids can draw their relatives and start telling family stories themselves.

The handprint tree. Trace your child's arm and hand as the trunk and branches. Each family member gets a leaf (a paper leaf, a thumbprint, or a sticker) with a name or a photo.

The drawing tree. Your child draws each person in a circle or frame. You write the name and one fact in their words: "Grandma, who has a red car."

The story jar. Write one short family story on a slip of paper for each person on the tree: where Grandpa grew up, what Mom was scared of when she was little, the day the dog came home. Read one at bedtime.

The interview. Help your child ask a grandparent three questions on a video call: "What did you play when you were little? What was your favorite food? What was your house like?" Write down the answers and add them to the tree.

When your family does not fit a tree

Plenty of families do not fit a neat diagram: adoption, foster care, two homes, step-families, a parent who is not in the picture, grandparents who raised the kids. A preschool "family tree" assignment can be hard in those homes. Some alternatives that keep the point (the people who love this child) without forcing a shape:

• The family house. Draw a house with a room for each household or group of people.
• Circles of love. Your child in the middle, the people they live with in the first circle, other family and close friends in the next.
• Roots and branches. For adopted children, some families use roots for birth family and branches for the family the child lives with. Follow your child's lead and your family's comfort with what to include.
• Two trees. Children with two homes can make one for each.

If you are the teacher, offering these options up front saves a lot of quiet worry at home. More on supporting kids through these situations is in our big moments guides.

Turn it into a family book

A family tree has a natural next step: a small book with one page per person. Use a photo traced into line art (here is how to make coloring pages of your family), a few lines about who they are, and a space for your child to color. A family coloring book is a good way to keep the stories going after the tree comes off the fridge. Colorkin can also draw your family from photos into a storybook, with grandparents included, if you would rather have it made.

Going further back

If the project sparks your own curiosity, the National Archives has a guide to starting genealogy research with an introductory presentation and pages on census, military, immigration and naturalization records. Before any of that, write down what older relatives remember. Their stories are the part your kids will keep. More on celebrating your family's culture and traditions is in family and heritage.

Questions parents ask