Primary children of the Cherry Lane Ward, Layton Utah East Stake, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints helped plan, prepare and participate in a weekly summer camp to learn about family history.
Each week from June through August, the children have explored different places around the world and discovered connections by learning about their ancestors’ birthplaces, missions, military service and more.
The Valiant 10 class members helped to plan and prepare weekly activities, made announcements in Primary, conducted the weekly camps and helped with flyers.
“It was wonderful to see them so excited to lead,” said Jennifer Perry, the ward Relief Society president.
Sherie Broderick, the first counselor in the ward Primary presidency, praised the collaboration among the children, youth, parents, Primary leaders, temple and family history consultants, and more in the ward.
“Everyone coming together to help the Primary children learn to have fun with family history, learning about their ancestors and other cultures was amazing,” Broderick said. “Letting the Valiant 10 class members begin to learn how to lead, plan and share was great for them and a wonderful example to the younger children.”
As the ward Young Women president, Jen Iverson, said she has seen incredible growth in the youngest class coming up from Primary.
“By the time they enter the youth program, they’ve already had meaningful opportunities to plan, lead and participate in temple and family history activities. Their testimonies are stronger and their love for the Savior is deeper because of these early experiences. This camp has become a true blessing to our entire ward family.”
She saw her daughter — a youth family history consultant — step up with confidence, take on responsibility and deepen her own testimony of temple and family history work as she mentored the children of the ward.
About the ward family history camp
Over the course of the summer, ward temple and family history consultants met with families to help parents and children create FamilySearch accounts, explore their family tree and learn how to add memories to ancestors in their family trees.
Lori Murray, a ward temple and family history consultant, said that during the week, the children learned at home about their ancestors through stories, activities, pictures and asking questions.
“As we discover that our ancestors came from all over and have served in different ways throughout the world, it helps give us a sense of belonging to these different places that maybe we haven’t been to before,” Murray said.
The children would then meet for an hour each Monday morning at a pavilion in the neighborhood. There, they began by singing “Holding Hands Around the World,” which is in the new global hymnbook, “Hymns — For Home and Church.” Then they would share what they learned and participate in activities that went along with the weekly theme.
Different people from the ward would come to share about countries with which they had connections as well.
The ward Primary president, Amber Blake, said: “I know the kids love it. It’s been fun to learn a little about different parts of the world and to find out everyone’s connections to those places.”
Last year for the first year of the camp, Murray created a workbook for the children that used The Friend magazine’s monthly “Family History Mystery” series from 2015. This year, she looked through The Friend for stories of children from different regions of the world to show some of their customs. She then matched activities from FamilySearch.org to go with those stories.
“Our hope is that they would come to realize that we are all connected and we are all children of God,” Murray said. “We wanted to bring a little peace, unity and respect back to the world. By finding our connections throughout the world, it helps us realize that we are all one.”
What the children learned
Ward member Bailey Makaimoku said her 8-year-old daughter, Auden, was happy to learn about the different countries, try new foods, do fun activities and learn more about her ancestors. And her 6-year-old son, Soren, enjoyed being with friends and singing “Holding Hands Around the World.”
“I love that this is helping my kids learn that family history is fun and interesting. It’s helping set their foundation and start habits for doing more family history as they get older,” Makaimoku said.
Mykalene Shaw said her daughter — who has many special needs — looked forward to family history camp each week and being with friends.
“I have appreciated the time and energy that our Relief Society, temple and family history, and Primary leaders have spent helping these children learn the joy that comes through learning about our ancestors,” Shaw said.
Madelynn Huffman, 12, who served as a youth family history consultant, is looking forward to more experiences like she had at the camp.
“I feel like family history camp is a great opportunity for kids to learn about their history and study personal stories about where they came from,” Madelynn said. “It can spark interests for talents their ancestors may have had, and it can connect friends and family in many different ways.”
