I am so grateful for the relationship that my daughter has with my parents. Family is so important to me, and I truly believe in the importance of passing on our knowledge, traditions, and memories to future generations. Years ago, I found a journal and stack of letters that my grandfather had written while he was serving overseas, and my father and I typed them up as a Christmas present for our family. This lead to my father writing up an entire family history, which he gifted to all of us in book form. It has become a treasured part of my library. When I had the opportunity to check out today’s book, it touched my heart because it speaks to the same idea of sharing family memories and passing them on to the next generation.

Standard Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. I may receive a commission from purchases you make through the links in this post. I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Nanna’s Button Tin was written by Dianne Wolfer and illustrated by Heather Potter. This heartwarming tale follows a young girl as she goes searching through her grandmother’s button tin for the perfect replacement for her teddy bear’s eye. As she sifts through the buttons in the tin, her Nanna tells her stories about each of the buttons that she finds. Some of the buttons are from the young girl’s memories, while some are memories of her Nanna’s life.

The story is heartwarming, while the illustrations are beautiful, showing both present day and times long past. We both really enjoyed the story, and I found myself wanting to create a similar tin of memories for my daughter and I to share.

Click here for more books on the special relationship between grandparents and their grandchildren!

Sharing Your History

Family Memories – This book is a great jumping off point to talking about your own family memories. If your family doesn’t have a tradition for recording memories, now is the time to start! Gather old pictures, letters, or memorabilia and create a family history together. Start your own button tin, or create a quilt together out of old clothes that have special meaning. Create a family scrapbook or gratitude journal that you add to throughout the year. Gather family recipes and create your own family cookbook, with tidbits and memories included. (My mother did this for us, and it is a treasured possession). Start a New Years jar and capture memories throughout the year. There are so many ways that you can start gathering memories and traditions now, to pass on to future generations.

Conversation Starters – To encourage family members to share stories and memories, create these easy conversation starters. Get a set of popsicle sticks and write a word or two on the end of each one. These could be simple ideas such as “Summer” or “Christmas”, or they can be more complicated, like “Love” or “Dreams”. While sitting around the dinner table, have each family member take a stick and share a memory inspired by that word. Whether they are family stories that everyone will remember, or personal stories from your own past, everyone will appreciate reminiscing and learning together.

Playing with Buttons

Button Drop – This simple game is easy to create, and has been one of my daughter’s favorites for a while. Get a small plastic container with a lid, and carefully cut a small rectangle into the lid. I used an empty Puffs container (because who doesn’t have these all over the place?). Give kids a variety of buttons, and encourage them to put the buttons through the hole in the lid. Once they have filled the container, they can dump it out and start over.

Check out more button games and activities here!

Button Sort – This activity is such a simple idea, but so smart! This self contained sensory bag from Hands on As We Grow provides kids with an opportunity to practice sorting with buttons, without any mess, or small pieces to keep track of! While she uses this activity to practice color sorting, you could change up this activity by adding different shaped buttons, or buttons with different numbers of holes. Or you could label the circles with different numbers and encourage kids to move the buttons around until each circle has the correct number. See how she created these fun bags here.

Button Bracelet – My daughter absolutely loves getting dressed up lately. This book offered the perfect opportunity to create some fun jewelry. I provided her with a variety of different colors and sizes of buttons, as well as some pipe cleaners. Once she filled the pipe cleaner with the buttons she wanted, I twisted the ends together to make a circle. This activity not only worked on her fine motor skills, but she also had lots of fun choosing what shapes and colors she would use. You could also use this opportunity to work on patterns, having kids create their own patterned bracelets. She loves her new bracelets, and I love that it is something that we made together!

Nanna’s Button Tin is a great reminder of the importance of family and our shared history and memories. Does your family have any traditions for sharing memories? Share in the comments below!

More Posts You May Enjoy