We’ve talked before about the reasons why it’s important for families to document and share their stories. With the apps and technology that exist today, it’s now easier than ever. Share this list of helpful resources with the families you serve, and help them start documenting their stories today!

StoryWorth

StoryWorth is an award-winning tool for capturing the important details about a family’s history. You start by signing up and inviting other family members to join. Each week, StoryWorth will email a question or a writing prompt.

Some sample prompts include:

• How did you get your first job?
• What were your favorite toys as a child?
• What is one of your favorite children’s stories?
• Did you have a favorite teacher in middle school? What made them great?
• What have you changed your mind about over the years?

The family members then respond to the prompt. Their story is shared with other family members who also have signed up. After a year of weekly stories, StoryWorth takes the responses and creates a personalized keepsake book. It’s a perfect way to capture the stories that most family members might never hear about.

FamilySearch

FamilySearch is a mobile app that makes capturing memories easy. It also works without an internet connection, so you’re able to capture memories anywhere. The app has four main features — photos, stories, audio capture, and a family tree. You can snap a quick photo of important events, such as graduations, recitals, or a wedding and upload them to the app. FamilySearch then lets you write or voice-record descriptive stories about each photo and tag other family members.

The best part is that your memories are stored for free permanently in the FamilySearch vaults. The app also allows you to easily share your created memories on other social media networks such as Facebook or Instagram.

HistoryLines

HistoryLines is an app that helps you visualize your family’s past and puts it into a historical context. The app lets you start by uploading the stories, photographs, and memories of your ancestors. It then shows you an interactive timeline of important events surrounding the years of a family member’s life. It also includes an interactive map to show where they might have migrated from, as well as the culture of the society they lived in.

Twile

Twile is another tool that allows you to build your own family tree and timeline. You start by adding the details about your relatives to create a digital family tree. The app then instantly creates an interactive timeline from the family tree. From there, you can add and edit important special moments, such as births and weddings. The app lets you create a detailed timeline by letting you write your own story about each important event, as well as attaching an unlimited number of photos to each event.

Once you’re done creating your timeline, you can share it with relatives and encourage them to share their own memories.

Kindeo

Kindeo is a private social network. Think of it as a family-only Facebook. It lets you privately share stories, memories, and personal reflections with your close family members. It’s designed to be intuitive, so it’s easy to use for grandparents and grandkids alike.

TapGenes

TapGenes is a little different than the other tools on our list. It’s primarily focused on capturing and preserving information about family members’ health. The goal is to help assess health risk factors, create an outlook on future health, and help show how family members relate to one another on a genetic level. According to the TapGenes website, we all “inherit more than just culture, values, and looks from your family; you can also inherit genes that increase your chances of developing certain diseases. Knowing about conditions that run in your family can help you make healthy choices to prevent or lower your disease risk.”