Did you know that in the nineteenth century, a smile was considered too frivolous an expression for a formal portrait? Or that holding a book in a photograph was an indication that the subject was educated? Every portrait tells a story. If you have old family photographs, you and your kids can search them for clues about how your ancestors wanted to be remembered and what life was like in their day.

To record what your family's life is like today, you can create self-portraits, either by taking photographs, by painting, or as we show below, by drawing with markers--a technique that works well for families with small kids. This project starts children thinking about the things that are meaningful to them and encourages them to consider how their everyday lives are actually history in the making.

MATERIALS

Acid-free heavy-stock paper (at least 5 sheets per family member)
Acid-free markers

1. Each person should think about how she would like to be remembered years from now. What objects would she hold to best reflect her personality? What should the setting be like? Should she place anything in the portrait that reflects her ethnic heritage? What emotion would she like to express? Encourage everyone to assemble any items they would like to use as references while they are drawing.

2. Set up your work area for drawing and give everyone enough paper to try several versions of their self-portraits. (Set a good example for your kids by favoring fun over perfectionism!) When everyone is done, set aside each person's favorite self-portrait.

3. Mark on the back of each portrait the date, the artist and the place it was drawn.

4. You can get your self-portraits inexpensively framed. Hang them together in a prominent place in your home so the kids can show off their family gallery to guests.

TESTER'S TIPS: If your kids are too young to draw a self-portrait, offer to do it for them, letting them dictate everything they want in the picture.