60 Questions to Ask Grandma

How to use these: Grandma holds generations of stories. Ask two or three questions at a visit, bring old photos or a favorite recipe card to spark memories, and record her answers so the whole family can hear her voice.

Growing Up in Her Era

1. What year were you born, and what was the world like then?
2. What was the home you grew up in like?
3. What did a typical day look like for you as a girl?
4. What did you and your friends do for fun?
5. What chores were you responsible for growing up?
6. What was school like, and what was your favorite subject?
7. What big events in the world do you remember from your youth?
8. What songs, radio programs, or movies did you love?
9. What did girls dream of becoming when you were young, and what did you dream of?
10. What is something from your childhood that young people today wouldn’t believe?

Faith

11. Who first taught you about God?
12. What do you remember about church when you were a girl?
13. When did your faith become your own?
14. What Bible verse has carried you through the years?
15. Tell me about a time God was faithful to you.
16. What hymn or song of faith means the most to you?
17. How has your faith grown as you’ve gotten older?
18. How did you pass your faith on to your children?
19. What do you pray for when you pray for your grandchildren?
20. What do you want future generations to know about God?

Love, Marriage & Family

21. Who was your first crush?
22. What was dating or courting like when you were young?
23. How did you meet the love of your life, or the person who shaped your heart most?
24. What do you remember about your wedding day, or a day you felt most loved?
25. What was your first home as an adult like?
26. What has love taught you over the years?
27. What helped you hold your family together through hard times?
28. What were your parents like?
29. Who in your family were you closest to growing up?
30. What family stories have been passed down to you?

Raising Her Children

31. How did you feel when you learned you were going to be a mother?
32. What do you remember about the day your first child was born?
33. What was the hardest part of raising little ones?
34. What did you love most about being a mom?
35. What is a funny thing one of your children did that you still remember?
36. How did you manage a busy household?
37. What is one thing you did differently from how you were raised?
38. What did you worry about most as a mother?
39. What lesson did you work hardest to teach your children?
40. What would you tell a young mother today?

Being a Grandmother

41. How did you feel when you first became a grandmother?
42. What do you remember about meeting me for the first time?
43. How is being a grandmother different from being a mom?
44. What is your favorite thing to do with your grandchildren?
45. What is a sweet or funny memory you have of me as a little one?
46. What did your own grandmother teach you?
47. What do you hope your grandchildren learn from you?
48. What name do you love being called: Grandma, Mimi, Nana, or something else?
49. What makes you proudest about our family today?
50. What do you want to say to your grandchildren that you haven’t said yet?

Traditions, Recipes & Legacy

51. What holiday traditions did you grow up with?
52. Which family traditions did you start yourself?
53. What recipe would you most like the family to keep making?
54. Who taught you to cook, and what did you make first?
55. What is the story behind your most-requested dish?
56. What heirloom or keepsake means the most to you, and why?
57. What is the best advice anyone ever gave you?
58. What are you most thankful for?
59. What do you want people to remember about you?
60. If you could leave one message for future generations, what would it be?