FROM THE MY LIFE STORY WORKBOOK
25 Questions to Ask Your Grandparents About Their Life
Good questions about their childhood home, school days, growing up and the family stories, with a few tips for getting the answers down on paper.
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Most grandparents have stories nobody thought to ask about. Not the big ones everyone knows, but the smell of a kitchen in 1958, the walk to school, the first thing they bought with their own money.
These 25 questions to ask your grandparents come straight from the My Life Story workbook. They go roughly in the order of a life: where the family came from, the house they grew up in, school, the teenage years and the holidays. Pick two or three for your next visit or phone call. You don't need to go in order, and you don't need to ask them all.
Chapter 1 · Where I Come From
Where the family comes from
What is your full name, and who chose it for you?
Is there a story behind your family name, or where it came from?
You could start with: who told you the story, and what the name means.
What did you call your grandparents, and who came up with those names?
Tell about a grandparent you knew. What did their house smell like?
Which family stories were told again and again at the table?
Did anyone in your family come from another country? What do you know about that journey?
Even a guess is worth writing down: a ship, a year, a town.
Chapter 2 · My Childhood Home
The house they grew up in
What did the first home you remember look like from the street?
What did your childhood kitchen smell like?
You could start with: the smell, a sound, one person who was there.
What chores did you have, and did you earn anything for them?
Where did you play outside, and what games did you play?
What toy or belonging did you treasure most?
Chapter 3 · School Days
School days
What was your first school like, and how did you get there each morning?
Who was your favorite teacher, and what did they do that stayed with you?
You could start with: their name, their voice, one thing they said.
Tell about the day you got in trouble at school.
What did you want to be when you grew up, at age ten?
Chapter 4 · Growing Up
Growing up
What did you do for fun as a teenager?
What was the first big thing you bought with your own money?
Tell about your first date, first dance or first crush.
What was your first car or other set of wheels like?
What advice from an older person did you ignore, and what happened?
Chapter 9 · Holidays and Traditions
Holidays they remember
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.
What foods always appeared on the table at holidays?
Which tradition would you like to see continue?
Chapter 1 · Where I Come From
For the grandchildren
Which grandparent or great-grandparent do you wish your grandchildren could have met? Why?
What would you like your grandchildren to know about where they come from?
How to get the best answers
- Ask one question per visit or call. Short and regular beats long and rare. One good story is plenty for a Sunday afternoon.
- Let the answer wander. A follow-up such as "What happened next?" often brings out the part worth keeping.
- Write down their words, not yours. The way your grandmother says it matters more than a tidy sentence.
- Record it on your phone, if they agree. Say the date and the question out loud before you start, so you can find it again later.
- Skip anything that doesn't fit. If a question touches something painful, move on. They can come back to it later, or never.
Get this list as a printable PDF ›
Looking for the practical side instead, like doctors, papers and accounts? See our questions to ask aging parents.
From My Life Story, a printable memory workbook with nearly 300 questions · papersinorder.com/life-story/
