We’ve all spent time listening to grandma wax poetic about years and relatives long gone. What’s the best way to connect this generation with the past?

Free family tree templates can help teach your children about where they come from. It’s also a fun way to learn more about your history. Not all family tree sites are safe, though. Some put your personal information on the web for anyone to see. Tap or click here to delete yourself from this scary site.

These five websites have tons of free templates for family trees you can try. Big families, small families, and everything in between will all find something perfect for the job.

If you already have the names and the lineage, a simple blank family tree template is one fast, easy, and free way to organize your family’s history. You’ll find everything from a simple family tree to complex family trees that sprawl to meet the needs of even enormous clans of descendants.

This site hosts more than a few options, many of which offer families of specific structures an edge. Families with lots of aunts and uncles, for example, or that cover more than several generations. Some stylized family tree templates are geared toward children, but you’ll find many bonafide family charts that feel scientific after some digging.

Either would be great for school projects at any grade level or simply a fun activity to share with your family on a Saturday afternoon. Suddenly, your family photobooks will take on shocking new proportions.

This Microsoft Excel family tree template brings much of the same. Download the file,…