FROM THE MY LIFE STORY WORKBOOK
Christmas Conversation Starters: Questions About Christmases Past
Questions for the dinner table that get the older generation telling stories, and the younger one listening.
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Christmas dinner is the one time of year when three or four generations sit at the same table. These conversation starters are about Christmases past: what the morning sounded like, who did the cooking, the gift nobody forgot.
They come from the Holidays and Traditions chapter of the My Life Story workbook, plus a quick round of one-line prompts for the kids' end of the table. Get the printable list, cut the questions into strips and put them in a bowl, or just ask one between courses.
Chapter 9 · Holidays and Traditions
Christmas mornings
What was a holiday morning like in your childhood home?
You could start with: what you heard first, what you smelled, who was up already.
Which holiday did your family celebrate biggest, and how?
Describe a favorite gift you gave or received.
What song, game or little ritual was part of your celebrations?
Chapter 9 · Holidays and Traditions
At the table
What foods always appeared on the table at holidays?
Who did the cooking, and who did the dishes?
Which relatives came to the table, and what do you remember about each?
Tell about the best holiday table you remember: who sat where, what was served and what was said.
Chapter 9 · Holidays and Traditions
The stories that get told every year
Tell about a holiday that went wrong and became a favorite story.
Which traditions did you start yourself?
Which tradition would you like to see continue?
Chapter 2 · My Childhood Home
Home in winter
What did your childhood kitchen smell like?
You could start with: the smell, a sound, one person who was there.
How did your house stay warm in winter and cool in summer?
Start Here
Two easy ones for everyone
What food always tastes like home to you?
Which season do you like best, and why?
Chapter 9 · Quick answers
Quick round for the kids' end of the table
Each one is a one-line answer. Go around the table and let everyone take a turn.
- The dessert everyone fought over
- The gift I wanted and never got
- My favorite decoration
- A holiday song or movie I can still hum
- The first holiday I spent away from home
Keeping the answers
The best Christmas stories tend to get told once, laughed at, and forgotten by New Year. If you want to keep them, someone has to write them down. Pick a cousin with a phone, or keep a notebook by the gravy.
Afterward, copy the good ones somewhere the whole family can find them. A story about the year the oven broke means more with the teller's name and the year beside it. If someone mentions a dish, ask for the recipe the same night, while everyone remembers who made it first.
Making it work at a busy table
- One question per course. It keeps things light, and nobody feels interviewed.
- Let a grandchild read it out. Older relatives answer a grandchild's question differently than an adult's.
- Keep a phone handy. If a good story starts, ask if you can record it. Say the date first.
- Write down the recipe too. If the answer is a dish, ask who made it first and how. That's a story on its own.
Get this list as a printable PDF ›
From My Life Story, a printable memory workbook with nearly 300 questions · papersinorder.com/life-story/
