FROM THE MY LIFE STORY WORKBOOK
Grandparent Interview Questions, Plus How to Run the Interview
A simple plan for a grandparent interview: easy warm-up questions, questions about home and school, and a few about how the world has changed.
Get this list as a printable PDF
The questions with room to write the answers, ready to print. Free, sent to your inbox.
A grandparent interview works for a school project, a Thanksgiving visit or a long phone call. The trick is to start easy, ask for stories instead of facts, and get the answers down before everyone forgets them.
The questions below come from the My Life Story workbook, and the how-to comes from its Interview Mode page, which is written for the person sitting beside the storyteller. Kids can ask these too. The warm-ups are easy enough for a seven-year-old to read aloud.
How to run the interview
- Pick a few questions together. Choose ones that look fun. The warm-ups below are a good first round.
- Read the questions aloud. Take them one at a time and let the answer wander. A follow-up such as "What happened next?" is welcome.
- Write their words down for them. Use the words they use. Their way of saying it matters more than tidy sentences.
- Record it on a phone, if they agree. Say the date and the question out loud, then write that date beside the answer.
- Keep it short. One question per visit or call is plenty. Short and regular beats long and rare.
- Let them skip anything. If they go quiet, move on. They can come back to it later, or never.
Start Here
Warm-up questions
What was your favorite candy or treat as a kid?
What is a song you still know all the words to?
What was the first movie you remember seeing in a theater?
Who was the funniest person you knew growing up?
What did you love to do on a rainy day?
What can you cook, fix or make better than anyone?
Chapter 2 · My Childhood Home
The house they grew up in
Who shared your bedroom, and what was on the walls?
What sound did you hear most often at home?
What did the family eat on an ordinary weeknight?
Where did everyone gather in the evening, and what did each person do?
What pets did you have, and what were their names?
Walk us through that house. Start at the front door and go room by room.
You could start with: the front door, then the first room on your left.
Chapter 3 · School Days
School days
What did you carry to school?
What was in your lunch, or where did you eat it?
Who was your best friend at school, and what mischief did you get into together?
What was the strictest rule at your school, and who enforced it?
Tell about the best day you remember at school, from the morning bell to the walk home.
You could start with: the season, who you sat next to, what was on the board.
Chapter 10 · The World I Lived Through
Then and now
What was the first telephone in your home like?
What was your first television like, and what did you watch?
Which invention changed your daily life the most?
Chapter 1 · Where I Come From
To finish
What do you know about the day you were born, and where it happened?
After the interview
- Keep a simple log. Write the date, the question and the name of the recording file, so the audio and the notes stay together.
- Read it back to them. They often add the best detail when they hear their own story.
- Add a photo. A picture of the house, the school or the first car makes the page.
Get this list as a printable PDF ›
From My Life Story, a printable memory workbook with nearly 300 questions · papersinorder.com/life-story/
