Ok, who’s up for a Genealogy Challenge? I could say Blog Challenge, but this isn’t just for bloggers. It’s actually for anyone who wants to record their own history, and it allows you to do it a little each week.  And you don’t even have to do it online. Simply grab yourself a blank notebook, and you’re all ready to go!

I recently came across Linda’s 52 Week Challenge, and I love it. Linda writes the Hinterland Writing blog, and she started this Challenge back in May 2016. Releasing a new topic each week, she’s currently up to Week 29.

It’s along the lines of my Family History Through the Alphabet Challenge, as in you pick and choose which weeks you’d like to participate in. In saying that she has a number of dedicated followers who are busy recording their memories every week, with others doing some along the way. Anyway I’ve compiled a list of her topics for Weeks 1-29 for you.

52 Week Challenge
Week 1 – What is your full name? Do you know why you were given that name? Do you have a baptismal name? A confirmation name? Why were these names chosen?
Week 2 – When and where were you born?  Which child are you ? Brothers and sisters? Capture the memories of the house you grew up in and the neighbourhood as you saw it? What do you remember the most about the house?
Week 3 – Your dad
Week 4 – Name 5 people that you consider to have had a positive impact on the world
Week 5 – Mother
Week 6 – Occupations
Week 7 – Have any of your immediate family members died?
Week 8 – Brothers and sisters
Week 9 – School Days
Week 10 – Family Traditions
Week 11 – Grandparents
Week 12 – Aunts and uncles
Week 13 – School days
Week 14 – School friends
Week 15 – The quirky family story
Week 16 – Reading
Week 17 – Shops / shopping
Week 18 – Childhood memories
Week 19 – Food
Week 20 – Significant events
Week 21 – Wow! What makes you stop and go WOW!
Week 22 – Movies
Week 23 – Rooms
Week 24 – Travel
Week 25 – Dinner sets
Week 26 – Grow your own
Week 27 – Christmas
Week 28 – Santa visits
Week 29 – Years end

For more on detail each of these topics, please visit Linda’s blog Hinterland Writing. When I contacted Linda I quizzed her as to what was ahead, she said she does have topic ideas, but also mentioned that she’s likely to change or swap them around at any time. So we’ll just have to see what else comes.

To keep up with the latest in Linda’s 52 Week Challenge be sure to follow her blog here, or her Facebook page.

More 52 Week Challenges …
And for those that love a challenge, there have been numerous genealogy-orientated 52 Week Challenges. Here’s just some of them:
Jump Start Your Genealogy: 52 Ideas. 52 Weeks (2009) – by Amy Coffin Lenertz of We Tree
52 Weeks of Personal Genealogy and History (2011) – by Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers
52 Weeks of Abundant Genealogy (2012) – by Amy Coffin Lenertz of We Tree and Thomas MacEntee of Geneabloggers
52 Questions in 52 Weeks (2013) – by FamilySearch
52 Weeks of Genealogy (2014) – by Sarah Heiner of Teach Me Genealogy
52 Ancestors in 52 Weeks (2014) – by Amy Johnson Crow of No Story Too Small
52 Weeks of Sharing Memories (2014) – by Lorine McGinnis Schulze of Olive Tree Genealogy
52 Weeks of Genealogical Records (2014-2015) – by Shauna Hicks of Shauna Hicks History Enterprises
52 Week Organized Research Challenge (2015) – by Susan Farrell Bankhead of Brick Wall Genealogist
#52Stories (2017) – by FamilySearch

Every Little Bit Helps ..
2017 is nearly here, so why not get started recording those memories that you’ve been meaning to every year, but haven’t started yet! Everything you record is something that otherwise wouldn’t have been. If you write your memories a little at a time, it’s do-able. And just think of what you’ll be leaving for the next generation.