Daily Prompts

Daily Blogging Prompts

A great and easy genealogy activity! Posts on this blog or grab these ideas for your own blog.  These daily prompts are fun ways to help gather and share information about your family history.  If interested, pick any of these prompts and write your own response.

If you want to see it published on this blog, email your response to familypearls (at) gmail (dot) com with "Daily Prompts" in the subject line.  It will be posted on the respected day.  Or, if you post on your own blog, make sure to share the link.

The following is a collection of several amazing daily prompts gathered from genealogy blogs.  This list was graciously compiled by Thomas MacEntee of GeneaBlogging.  Make sure to follow the links to learn about more amazing genealogy blogs.

• SUNDAY: Black Sheep Sunday, Church Record Sunday, Sentimental Sunday, Sunday's Obituary


• MONDAY: Amanuensis Monday, Madness Monday, Mappy Monday, Maritime Monday, Matrilineal Monday, Military Monday, Mobile Monday, Motivation Monday, Mystery Monday


• TUESDAY: Talented Tuesday, Tech Tuesday, Tombstone Tuesday, Travel Tuesday, Tuesday's Tip


• WEDNESDAY: Wedding Wednesday, Wednesday's Child, Wisdom Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Workday Wednesday,


• THURSDAY: Thankful Thursday, Thrifty Thursday, Thriller Thursday, Those Places Thursday, Treasure Chest Thursday 


• FRIDAY: Family Recipe Friday, Follow Friday, Friend of Friends Friday, Friday Funny, Funeral Card Friday


• SATURDAY: Shopping Saturday, Society Saturday, Sorting Saturday, Sports Center Saturday, Surname Saturday, Sympathy Saturday

SUNDAY:

Black Sheep Sunday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor with a “shaded past.” Bring out your ne’er-do-wells, your cads, your black widows, your horse thieves and tell their stories. And don’t forget to check out the International Black Sheep Society of Genealogists (IBSSG). This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Church Record Sunday – describe a specific church record or a set of records held by a church or denomination and how they can assist genealogists. This is an ongoing series developed by Gena Philibert Ortega at Gena’s Genealogy.

Sentimental Sunday – discuss a sentimental story or memory about an ancestor, or maybe even a family tradition that touches you. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers and was suggested by Renate Sanders at Into the Light.

Sunday’s Obituary – if you have obituaries of family members and ancestors, consider posting them along with other information about that person as part of Sunday’s Obituary. This is an ongoing series developed by Leslie Ann at Ancestors Live Here.

MONDAY:

Amanuensis Monday – An Amanuensis is a person employed to write what another dictates or to copy what has been written by another. Amanuensis Monday is a daily blogging theme which encourages the family historian to transcribe family letters, journals, audiotapes, and other historical artifacts. Not only do the documents contain genealogical information, the words breathe life into kin – some we never met – others we see a time in their life before we knew them. A fuller explanation can be found here.  Amanuensis Monday is a popular ongoing series created by John Newmark at Transylvanian Dutch.

Madness Monday – create a post with the main focus being an ancestor who either suffered some form of mental illness or an ancestor who might be hard to locate and drives you mad. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Mappy Monday – do maps, deeds and land records factor in to your family history? Join us for Mappy Monday where you can post map images and how they relate to your research or discuss other aspects of land ownership and your ancestors. Several members of GeneaBloggers suggested this type of theme and in fact Holly Spencer of Ravenna Area Historical Society Blog has been using this theme since March 2009.

Maritime Monday – Post about anything to do with the sea: ancestors who were sailors, shipwrights, fishermen, or coastguards including images, records and links. Maritime Monday is an ongoing series created by Ros Haywood at the GenWestUK blog.

Matrilineal Monday – Post about the female line of one of your families you are researching. Matrilineal Monday is an ongoing series by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of ‘On a flesh and bone foundation’: An Irish History.

Military Monday – We all have ancestors who have served in the military. Military Monday is a place to post their images, stories and records of their service in various branches of the military. Military Monday is an ongoing series by Cindy at Everything’s Relative – Researching Your Family History.

Mobile Monday – Do you use mobile applications on a SmartPhone to assist with your genealogy research? Post a review of any applications you’ve used or post about what you’d like to see in a mobile application related to genealogy. This is an ongoing series created by A.C. Ivory of the Find My Ancestor blog.

Motivation Monday – do you have a set of genealogy-related goals you want to tackle? Do you have tips on getting motivated? Whether you want to lend advice or you need advice, participate in Motivation Monday at your blog and tell us what’s on your genealogical plate. This is an ongoing series created by Dionne Kurti at Finding Josephine.

Mystery Monday – Closely related to Madness Monday only these missing ancestors might not cause madness! Mystery Monday is where you can post about mystery ancestors or mystery records – anything in your genealogy and family history research which is currently unsolved. This is a great way to get your fellow genealogy bloggers to lend their eyes to what you’ve found so far and possibly help solve the mystery. Several genealogy bloggers have been using Mystery Monday as an ongoing series including Randy Seaver of Genea-Musings, Kathleen Moore of The Misadventures of a Genealogist and Betty Tartas of Betty’s Boneyard Genealogy Blog.

TUESDAY:

Talented Tuesday – Got ancestors who had a special talent? Be it musical, comical, or any manner of skill, post at your genealogy blog through words and pictures.

Tech Tuesday – Have you stumbled upon a piece of technology or new Web-based application that would be of interest to your fellow genealogy colleagues? Post at your blog on Tech Tuesday and show us the ins and outs of this technology and how it can benefit the genealogy community.  This is a new series suggested by Donna Peterson of Hanging with Donna and in the past there have been many iterations of this series: the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) blog Narations as well as The Family Curator by Denise Levenick.

Tombstone Tuesday – To participate in Tombstone Tuesday simply create a post which includes an image of a gravestone of one or more ancestors and it may also include a brief description of the image or the ancestor. This is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Travel Tuesday – Do you have images, quotes or stories about trips your ancestors or family took during their lives? Or have to ventured out on travels to your ancestral homeland as part of your genealogy research? Travel Tuesday is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Susan Donaldson of Family History Fun.

Tuesday’s Tip – What advice would you give to another genealogist or family historian, especially someone just starting out? Remember when you were new to genealogy? Wasn’t it great to find tips and tricks that worked for others? Post your best tips at your genealogy blog on Tuesday’s Tip. This series was suggested by Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives and, in fact, this has been an ongoing series by Lynn Palermo at The Armchair Genealogist and by Miriam Robbins at AnceStories: The Stories of My Ancestors.

WEDNESDAY:

Wedding Wednesday – a great way to display those old wedding photos or scan wedding invitations and announcements! Suggested by Carol of Reflections from the Fence and in use by several genealogy bloggers.

Wednesday’s Child – Post photos of gravestones of children. A sad topic indeed but posts can give life to the stories of these young souls. This has been an ongoing series by Amy at Gravestoned.
 
Wisdom Wednesday – an alternative to Wordless Wednesday for those who just can’t post without words! Create a post in which you share words of wisdom about any number of things including weddings, marriage, children, work, and so on.  A post  could include such things as favorite sayings of grannies, superstitions, that sort of thing.  Words of wisdom should have their origins in the past and have been passed on from generation to generation. Wisdom Wednesday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers suggested by Jennifer Geraghty-Gorman of On a Flesh and Bone Foundation: An Irish History.

Wordless Wednesday – a great way to share your old family photos! Create a post with the main focus being a photograph or image. Some posters also include attribute information as to the source of the image (date, location, owner, etc.). Wordless Wednesday is one of the longest running “memes” in the blogosphere and is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.
 
Workday Wednesday – a way to document your ancestors’ occupations (they weren’t all farmers), transcripts of SS-5s, photos and stories of ancestors at work, announcements of retirements, etc. This prompt has been suggested by Denise Spurlock of the Denise’s Life in the Past Lane and Reflecting on Genealogy blogs.

THURSDAY:

Thankful Thursday – Create a post that expresses gratitude for a person (past or present), resource, family history tool or anything connected to you or your and family history that has had a positive impact on your life. This prompt has been suggested by Carolyn Murphy of Family Tree Gal and has been in use by Mary Warren of Mary’s Musings for the past year.

Thrifty Thursday – do you have some neat ways of saving money when it comes to genealogy? Have you located a bargain on some research resource or office supply? Post about it during Thrifty Thursday! This series has been suggested by Judy Webster of Queensland Genealogy.

Thriller Thursday – Are there murders, bizarre accidents or other thrilling stories among your family history? Tell us about them through words and pictures during Thriller Thursday. This is an ongoing series by Anne Kruszka at Gene Notes.

Those Places Thursday – do you often think back to places where you lived and worked at one time? What about those places where your ancestors spent time? Post about “those places” with photos and stories on Those Places Thursday. This has been an ongoing series by Cheryl Palmer of Heritage Happens.

Treasure Chest Thursday – create a post with the main focus being a family treasure, an heirloom or even an every-day item important to your family. A special thanks to Leslie Ann Ballou of Lost Family Treasures for suggesting Treasure Chest Thursday as a daily blogging theme!

FRIDAY:

Family Recipe Friday – is an opportunity to share your family recipes with fellow bloggers and foodies alike. Whether it’s an old-fashioned recipe passed down through generations, a recipe uncovered through your family history research, or a discovered recipe that embraces your ancestral heritage share them on Family Recipe Friday. This series was suggested by Lynn Palermo of The Armchair Genealogist.

Follow Friday – create a post in which you recommend another genealogy blogger, a specific blog post, a genealogy website or a genealogy resource. Tell us why they are important to the genealogy community and why we should follow.  Follow Friday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers and was suggested by Earline Bradt of Ancestral Notes.

Friend of Friends Friday – if you have encountered records of enslaved ancestors, whether they are your own ancestors or not, make it a point to transcribe those records and get them posted on the Internet via your blog. Friend of Friends Friday is an important service to the genealogy community – both Leslie Ann of Ancestors Live Here and Greta of Greta’s Genealogy Bog have been posting to this series for some time now and their inspiration is much appreciated.

Friday Funny – have you come across something genealogy-related that makes you laugh or smile? Post images, stories, quotes and more during Friday Funny. Friday Funny is a daily blogging prompt suggested by Jennie Pak of They Came to Montana.

Funeral Card Friday – do you have a collection of memorial cards for your ancestors or family members, the kind that funeral homes produce and give out to mourners? Post images of these cards and stories about the person memorialized during Funeral Card Friday. Funeral Card Friday has been an ongoing series by Dee at Funeral Cards & Genealogy.

SATURDAY:

Shopping Saturday – many families – especially busy working families – would perform their weekly shopping on Saturdays. Tell us about the various stores and vendors that your ancestors used to patronize. Or perhaps your ancestors had their own store? And don’t forget to also document your own memories of stores and shopping. This prompt has been suggested by Audrey Collins of The Family Recorder.

Society Saturday – Are you involved with a genealogical or historical society? Do you want to showcase their good works, projects and events? Society Saturday is a way to do that at your own genealogy blog. This prompt has been suggested by Dana of the Just Folks blog.

Sorting Saturday – Any tips on how to go about sorting through a closet or box of stuff, what to do with what you find, organizing, supplies and tools you might need, etc. What about having to clean out a parent’s home once they’ve passed? This is an ongoing series by Michelle Goodrum at Turning of Generations.

Sports Center Saturday – do you have photos and stories about ancestors and their love of sports? Be it basketball or water polo or skeet shooting, tell their stories in your blog posts! Sports Center Saturday is a series suggested by Susan Petersen of Long Lost Relatives.

Surname Saturday – create a post in which you discuss a surname and mention its origins, its geographical location(s) and how it fits into your genealogy research. Surname Saturday is an ongoing series at GeneaBloggers.

Sympathy Saturday – While Funeral Card Friday and Sunday’s Obituary revolve around a clipping related to the death of an ancestor or relative, with Sympathy Saturday you can post about any aspect of the passing of a person. This is an ongoing series by Anne Kruszka at GeneNotes and Generational.