Last Minute Gift Ideas: Zap the Grandma Gap Ancestor Activity Workbooks For Kids

The Zap the Grandma Gap Ancestor Activity Workbooks are unique gift ideas for the children in your life, and if you order by midnight Monday, December 19, 2016 you'll get a free shipping upgrade so that you will receive them in time for Christmas delivery! Click here to order now.

The “My Ancestors” hands-on workbooks come in 8 different heritages including British, Danish, Swedish, Pioneer, Mormon, Civil War, German, & Jewish. These fun books create bonds between generations with hours of activities, puzzles, games, recipes, stories and crafts that can involve the entire family. Timelines, paper dolls, coloring pages, maps, music, dot-to-dots and crossword puzzles combine to give youth ownership of their own genealogy and the send them on a quest to bring their family history to life.

Studies have shown that greater knowledge about family history strengthens and empowers youth by creating self-esteem, resilience and a greater sense of control over their lives. Learning about the family's past also strengthens the relationships between living family members by creating a shared experience and core identity that no one else in the world can duplicate.  Our children’s workbooks are designed to help kids gain the benefits of family history and start asking their family members about their shared past. Order these meaningful gifts here to begin! 

Sharing Family History Through Food: Holiday Avocado Salsa

We hope you have enjoyed all the yummy recipes we have shared this fall.  We end this year with a colorful and meaningful salsa recipe from Lynette, our newest chart and shipping assistant. Lynette shares the story behind her recipe:

"I grew up in Cupertino, California in the heart of Silicon Valley. In those years, Santa Clara County was the world capital for apricot growing.  There were orchards everywhere, including behind our home. About 5 miles away, up a winding road in the Cupertino foothills, my grandparents had built a home in the late 1940's on several acres of rural property. My grandmother, Gladys Brush, went to work planting fruit trees and raising goats and chickens. One of my grandmother's favorite trees was a healthy pomegranate tree, but finding good recipes for pomegranates wasn't easy. My grandmother was a health nut, and as a kid I didn't like much of what she fixed for us. One year, however, in the 1960's, she found this recipe in a Sunset Magazine.  It was a big hit in our family! Every Thanksgiving and Christmas it was a favorite appetizer.  My parents and I both planted pomegranate trees in California that we shared with the family just for this recipe.  Now that most of my family has been priced out of Silicon Valley and live in climates that can't grow them, my brother in Vegas is the keeper of the family tree!  This recipe has been passed down, shared and enjoyed for 60 years now!"

You may just instinctively know some of your family's recipes if you make them often. When they are just in your head it is harder to pass them down to the next generation. Write down the ingredients and instructions in a way that anyone could prepare the food without knowing beforehand how to make it. Record the circumstances in which the recipes were used and who used them, along with a few details or stories about the creators' lives. Make sure your children and grandchildren have copies of the recipes. Family cookbooks or recipe card collections make great gifts!

Visit Zap The Grandma Gap for more info on how to make family history fun and to purchase the Zap the Grandma Gap books with additional recipes and activities for families.

Please comment with your one of your favorite family recipes!

 

Genealogy and Family History Game Zap the Grandma Gap Pedigree Challenge

Click here for larger version

Our newest genealogy and family history game, the Zap the Grandma Gap Pedigree Challenge, is a fun educational game that is great for all ages and any number of people.  It helps players understand how to read a pedigree chart by asking questions about age, relationships, and locations of births, deaths, and marriages. 

Cards marked with a yellow star indicate easier questions. The Pedigree challenge includes the chart and 52 question cards.
Sample questions include:

·         In what month were Scott and his siblings born?

·         Who is June’s husband?

·         How old was Emily when she died?

·         Where was Linda married?

·         How many generation of descendants does Thomas have?

Enjoy our Zap the Grandma Gap family members as they teach concepts such as using the chart information to calculate age, determining how many cousins they have, and how a pedigree chart diagrams relationships.  Make it extra fun by letting players earn a prize with each correct answer. 

Available in 3 different versions:

• Vinyl Large Size : Perfect for family reunions, family history conferences, and family history centers.  Printed on vinyl in an extra large size for durability and visibility. $59.95
• Laminated:  Perfect size and laminated for durable use in the classroom, scouting and the genealogy merit badge, and repeated home use. $29.95
• Paper:  Value edition printed on paper for home use.  Fun for home use, family game night, and homeschooling units on genealogy. $19.95

Click here to order the game for your family!

Family History Projects for the Next Generation

Rather than giving more stuff, the gift of an experience has become all the rage.  And what better experience can you give than working together as a family to learn about your family history?  This year you can give the gift of a family history experience by choosing Zap The Grandma Gap books for the youth in your family.  These books put the young person in the driver's seat and will have them asking you the questions about your family history.  With fun projects to do together, our activity books will ensure many hours of fun exploration.  Order by  December 16th for Christmas delivery. 

Up the Game for Your Next Family Reunion

We do family reunions like no one else.  You want the "WOW" factor at the next one you're in charge of?  Contact us, we've got you covered.  With all manner of custom printed charts, we are your go-to resource for working charts (great for gathering information and editing incorrect data) or center piece custom designed display charts.  We have also gathered plenty of tried and tested family reunion ideas for you over the years that you can take a look at here and here.  And now, to top all of that, we at Family ChartMasters have created a brand new game for you to play with family members anytime you want to create moments for making family connections!

We are very pleased to introduce you to our Family ChartMasters Pedigree Challenge Card Game.  A full deck of professionally crafted cards that will have conversations buzzing and family chart hunting happening within seconds.  Here are a few examples of some of the narrative builders included in this fun deck of cards:

• Find someone who knows your uncle and have them tell you a story about him.
• Find a relative whose name starts with the same letter as yours. Where and when were they born?
• Do you have an aunt? When and where was she born?
• Find two people who are first cousins.
• Find a relative who was born while one of their great-grandparents was still alive.
• What is the most popular month to be born in your family?
• Do you have any relatives born on their parents' anniversary?

As you can see, these cards will work in large groups (great for mingling at those large extended family reunions) or in smaller gatherings (use with your custom made Family ChartMasters family chart and utilize the beautifully displayed information to create stronger bonds).  These cards can come out any time of year.  For grand holidays (can you imagine the stories that will fly over the carved turkey?) or for quick visits from grandchildren, nieces, or nephews (what a fun way to pass time while arming young ones with family history power).  The cards have so many applications and uses, you'll be glad you have them on hand.

You can purchase this deck of cards now, through our website, for just $10.  It's a real bargain for all of the bonding and sharing that will result from it.  Or, if you will be at Rootstech next week, stop by Booth 1240 to say "hello" and pick up a fresh deck for you or another family reunion planning friend you may know.  That will also give you a great chance to check out some of the games we'll be playing at our booth (1240), as well as another family history centered board game geared more towards smaller gatherings.  You can take a look at the cards yourself and give them a try with any of our displayed charts, to see how fun and addictive the chart treasure hunting can become.  Trust us on this one, we know family reunions and you will want this game at your next one!

E-Book Sale Ends Today

It's the last day of 2014, can you believe it? I don't know about you, but this year flew by for me.  Time is funny that way. But as it is, I am happy to mark 2014 in my books as an author again. It was a real labor of love to add three new workbooks to my Zap the Grandma Gap collection. And then taking my entire series into the digital, e-book age was an exciting step. I really am pleased to be able to offer more workbooks, covering a wider variety of family heritages, all while trying to do it in a way that suits as many folks' preferences as possible. I really hope it will help families strengthen their relationships with each other and their ties to the past.

That said, as we close the books on 2014, we also close the books on our final sale of the year. If you didn't get a chance to take advantage of our hardcopy/e-book sale for Holiday gifts, I hope you'll do so now as a "year-end personal bonus" for yourself or a family member. The sale was designed with building your "family history and children" toolbox in mind, and is best utilized to "stock the garrison," so to speak. In other words, the more books you buy, the better deal you'll receive.

As a quick reminder the sale is as follows:

1. Purchase a hard copy of any of my books or workbooks and receive the e-book of that same book for only $1.
2. Purchase 5 or more e-books and receive 50% off your entire e-book order. 

For complete details on how it works, be sure to check out the original sale post, over on The Chart Chick. But do hurry because the sale ends today, December 31. 2014.

As we head into 2015, I want to wish you and your family the very best of New Years. We, at Family ChartMasters, count ourselves quite lucky to get to work with each of you and are truly grateful for your support. We hope for you and your family to have a wonderful, healthy, and safe new year of family memory making and memory discovering. Happy New Year's, everyone!

My Mormon Ancestor Activity Book

We're so excited to show off some more details about our new books.  Today we are going to focus on the "My Mormon Ancestor" Activity Book.

First I have to give another big thank you to my sister Amy Slade for her help with this book.  Also, many more great thanks to Erin Roudabush, Michelle Phillips and Christine Fazulyanov for their assistance in making this book happen.

You can take a look at the entire Table of Contents in our preview on the Zap The Grandma Gap website. 

With the “My Mormon Ancestor Activity Book” you can:

· Plan an Ancestor Family Home Evening
· Learn about Priesthood Line of Authority and how to trace it
· Find the Patriarchal Blessings of your ancestors
· Complete a temple dot-to-dot
· Document the church service and callings of your ancestors
· Gather information on your family’s missionaries
· Record information about the first LDS members of your family
· Make a handkerchief doll for church

Look at some of these pages:

These books make wonderful gifts for the holidays. Take advantage of the pre-release sale, 20% off all books at zapthegrandmagap.com, till November 30, 2014 and they will arrive in time for Christmas. Other great online and print resources to help families connect to each other by connecting to their past can be found at zapthegrandmagap.com.

My Jewish Ancestor

We're so excited to show off some details about our new books.  Today we are going to focus on the "My Jewish Ancestor" Activity Book.

First I have to give a big thank you to Schelly Talalay Dardashti, Daniel Horowitz, and Tammy Hepps for their feedback.  All three were so generous with their time and help and the book is much better because of their contributions.  I am indebted and in awe of their genealogy expertise. 

You can take a look at the entire Table of Contents in our preview on the Zap The Grandma Gap website. 

With the “My Jewish Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
· Learn about Jewish history, traditions and culture
· Make and braid Challah bread with your family
· Solve a Jewish calendar crossword puzzle
· Record your family’s recipe for Charoset
· Find your family’s place in the Diaspora
· Learn the Hebrew alphabet
· Complete a genealogy word search
· Enjoy a Yiddish folktale and Nasrudin stories
· Color, cut out and tell stories with Jewish ancestor paper dolls

· Explore many other activities about your family’s history

Look at some of these pages:

 

This book will arrive in time for Chanukah gift giving if you order now. Take advantage of the pre-release sale, 20% off all books at zapthegrandmagap.com, until November 30, 2014. Excerpts from all of the books can be viewed on the website at zapthegrandmagap.com/brandnewbooks. Other great online and print resources can be found at zapthegrandmagap.com
to help families connect to each other by connecting to their past.

This post crossposted to thechartchick.com

Three New "My Ancestor Activity Books"

Just in time for the holiday season, I've got some new Zap the Grandma Gap Activity Books coming your way! I am so excited to announce three new books for you to share and give to the children in your lives. I have created workbooks for the following heritages:

• With the “My Jewish Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
  · Learn about Jewish history, traditions and culture
  · Make and braid Challah bread with your family
  · Solve a Jewish calendar crossword puzzle
  · Record your family’s recipe for Charosets
  · Find your family’s place in the Diaspora
  · Learn the Hebrew Alphabet
  · Complete a genealogy word search
  · Enjoy a Yiddish folktale and a Nasrudin stories
  · Color, cut out and tell stories with Jewish Ancestor paper dolls
• With the “My Mormon Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
  · Plan an Ancestor Family Home Evening
  · Learn about Priesthood Line of Authority and how to trace it
  · Find the Patriarchal Blessings of your ancestors
  · Complete a temple dot-to-dot
  · Document the church service and callings of your ancestors
  · Gather information on your family’s missionaries
  · Record information about the first LDS members of your family
  · Make a handkerchief doll for church
• With the “My Pioneer Ancestor Activity Book” you can:
  · Map out the pioneer route of your ancestors
  · Decide what you would pack for a journey across the plains
  · Learn how to find direction by the sun
  · Compare your day to the day in the life of your ancestor
  · Try classic pioneer recipes
  · Write a Pony Express letter to a pioneer ancestor
  · Play a game about the risks along the trail
  · Contrast pioneer schools and modern schools

 These workbooks books offer a variety of fun and engaging activities to introduce your children and grandchildren to different aspects of their personal heritage.  We've included activities like mazes, recipes, dot-to-dot, and our always popular paper dolls.  Science has shown us how valuable it is for our children to have a sense of self (academically and emotionally) and these books are a fantastic to way to introduce your children to family history in an easy, interactive, and fun way.

As a bonus for you, we are having a pre-order sale.   

Place your pre-order with us by November 30, 2014 and save 20% on your entire book order.  

This sale includes all of my previous Zap the Grandma Gap books and workbooks, as well.  The books will be shipping in December--perfect for gift giving.  These books make wonderful gifts for children and adults.  Order by the deadline to take advantage of this fantastic sale.

Watch the blog next week for in-depth previews of each new workbook.  And take a look at my previous books here.  I'd love to help you bring some genealogy into the lives of your young ones this holiday season.