Goodtalk
Goodtalk

Family History Questions

How did Grandma and Grandpa meet? What did Dad play with as a boy? These cards bring out the family stories before they are forgotten. Let the youngest ask the questions and the oldest answer.

Good for: Families with kids 8 and up. Great for reunions, holidays and birthdays.

Play 70 cards

Tips for playing

  • Let a child draw the card and interview the oldest person at the table.
  • Keep asking: "What did it look like?" and "Then what happened?"
  • Write down the best stories, or record them on your phone.

Depth: lightLight questions

Easy to start with. Good for warming up.

  1. Where did you grow up, and what games did kids play back then?
  2. How did your parents meet?
  3. How did your grandparents meet, if you know?
  4. Which tradition in our family do you like best, and where does it come from?
  5. What were your grandparents' names, and what did they do for work?
  6. Which house or apartment do you remember best from growing up?
  7. What did your family eat on special holidays when you were a kid?
  8. Which dish has our family been making for generations?
  9. Who in the family was best at telling stories?
  10. What was the family's first car?
  11. How did you get to school when you were a kid?
  12. What toys did your parents have when they were little?
  13. Who in the family is named after whom?
  14. Where does our last name come from?
  15. What jobs did your parents have when you were little?
  16. Where did you go on your first family vacation?
  17. What pets has the family had over the years?
  18. What song did your family sing when you were a kid?
  19. Who in the family has lived the farthest away?
  20. What did the family do on weekends when you were a kid?
  21. How did your family celebrate birthdays?
  22. What did people wear when your parents were young?
  23. What's the oldest thing our family has passed down, and who did it belong to?
  24. Which two people in the family are most alike, and how?
  25. What's the funniest thing that happened when you were my age?
  26. What did your room look like when you were a kid?
  27. Which family story gets told every time we're all together?
  28. What was your best friend's name when you were in school?
  29. What TV show did the whole family watch together?
  30. How much did an ice cream or a soda cost when you were a kid?
  31. Where did the family go on summer vacation when you were little?
  32. Who taught you to ride a bike or swim?
  33. What funny story does the family love to tease you about?
  34. What music did your parents listen to when they were young?
  35. What was the town or village like where you grew up?
  36. What game did the family play on rainy days?
  37. What nickname have you had in the family, and where did it come from?
  38. Who was the first in the family to get a computer or a cell phone?

Depth: mediumA bit more personal

For when the conversation is flowing.

  1. What hard time did someone in the family get through, and how did they do it?
  2. What do you hope the kids in our family will remember about us?
  3. Which of your parents are you most like, and in what way?
  4. What recipe or craft did your grandparents know that you'd like to learn?
  5. What choice did someone in the family make that changed everyone's life?
  6. Who in the family moved far away to build a better life?
  7. What was it like being a kid back then?
  8. What did people talk about at the dinner table when you were a kid?
  9. What were the strictest rules in your house growing up?
  10. Which family story did you only hear once you were grown up?
  11. Who in the family are you proud of, and why?
  12. What has the family laughed about most over the years?
  13. How has our family helped each other when things were tough?
  14. Which of our traditions must we never give up?
  15. What new tradition should our family start?
  16. What do you know about your great-grandparents' lives, and who in the family might know more?
  17. What was your first day at your first job like?
  18. What did your parents worry about when you were a kid?
  19. What piece of advice has been handed down in our family?
  20. How did you meet your partner?
  21. What was the best thing about growing up where you did?
  22. What's one thing from the home you grew up in that you'd love to have today?
  23. Who in the family surprised everyone by doing something completely different?
  24. How has the family changed since you were a kid?
  25. Which person in the family would you like to know more about?
  26. What would you tell someone who's never met us about our family?
  27. Which family celebration do you remember best, and what happened?
  28. What hard times has our family gotten through together?
  29. What did the grown-ups say when you'd done something silly?
  30. Which photo in the family album means the most to you?
  31. What was the biggest family news when you were a kid?
  32. What would you like to pass on to future generations of our family?

70 cards in this deck.