Blog · Parents and grandparents

Questions to ask your grandparents.
To gather your family's stories.

How they met, what they ate on Sundays, what their first job was. These are stories told around the table that blur in memory. With the right questions they become a treasure to keep, in their own voices.

Erabox editorial team · Updated · 5 min read

A grandfather and his granddaughter smiling as they look at an old photograph together
In short

Good questions to ask grandparents cover their childhood, their youth, love, work and their advice for life. They work best at a quiet moment, starting from a photo or an object, one question at a time. Recording the answers keeps not only the stories but also their voices.

Why do it

Family stories help children grow up more confident

At Emory University, psychologists Marshall Duke and Robyn Fivush studied how families tell their own stories. Children who know more about their family history, such as how their parents met or where their grandparents grew up, tend to have higher self-esteem and cope better with difficulties.

120+

hours of dinner-table conversations, recorded by 40 families, analysed in the Family Narratives Project.

Grandparents' stories are the first chapter of that history. Asking for them is a gift for everyone: for those who tell them, who feel listened to, and for those who hear them, who discover where they come from.

How to do it

Five tips for the interview

  1. Choose a quiet moment. Sunday lunch, a winter afternoon, a car journey. No rush, no television on.
  2. Start from a photo or an object. An old photograph, a set of plates, a medal: the stories come on their own.
  3. One question at a time. Then listen. The best answers often come after a pause.
  4. Follow the detours. If Grandpa starts on another story, let him go: that's where the unexpected memories are.
  5. Record, if they agree. A phone resting on the table is enough. In twenty years that voice will be worth more than any notes.
The questions

25 questions to ask your grandparents

Grouped by theme. You don't need to ask them all: choose five at a time.

Childhood

“What was the house you grew up in like?”“What did you play as a child, and with whom?”“What was your favourite dish? Who cooked it?”“What was school like when you were young?”“What did your family do at Christmas?”

Youth and love

“What did you dream of becoming?”“How did you meet Grandma?”“What was your first date like?”“What music did you listen to at twenty?”“What was the best trip of your life?”
A grandmother teaching her granddaughter to embroider, sitting close together on the sofa

Work and home

“What was your first job? How much did you earn?”“What are you proudest of in your work?”“What was your first home like?”“Is there a family object with a special story?”“What has changed most since you were young?”

Family

“What were your parents and grandparents like?”“What do you remember about the day Dad (or Mum) was born?”“Which family tradition would you like us to keep?”“Is there a recipe only you know how to make?”“What's your favourite memory with your grandchildren?”

Advice

“What's the most important thing you've learned?”“What would you tell yourself at twenty?”“What's the secret of a love that lasts?”“What still makes you happy today?”“What would you like your grandchildren to know about you?”
Ready to print

The 25 questions, ready to print

Three pages with the questions by theme, lines for the answers and the interview tips.

PDF · 3 pages · A4
Download the PDF
Afterwards

What to do with the answers

Keep the voices

Save the recordings with a date and a title: “Grandpa Peter talks about his first job, Christmas 2026”.

Write the family book

Transcribe the best stories in a notebook, with a few photos. It becomes a book to give the whole family.

Complete the tree

Names, places and dates become branches. Ideas in the Family tree and family history guide.

With Erabox

Their voices, for when the grandchildren are grown up

Gather the audio, video and photos from the interview in a capsule and choose the delivery day: a grandchild's 18th birthday, their graduation, their wedding.

1

Gather

The recordings, the photos, handwritten recipes, a letter from the grandparents.

2

Choose who will receive it

A grandson, a granddaughter, the whole family. They don't need to sign up or download anything: a personal, secure link arrives.

3

Choose the day

A birthday, a milestone, a Christmas many years from now.

Erabox keeps your memories on servers in Switzerland and delivers them on the day you chose, even many years from now.

See how it works
Frequently asked questions

Questions to ask grandparents: common questions

Can't find your answer? Write to us from the Support page.

Questions about their childhood, youth and love, work, family and advice for life. The most effective ones are concrete: “what was your house like?” works better than “what was your life like?”.
With a photo or a family object. Ask “who's in this photo?” and let the story come on its own.
Five or six are enough. Several short conversations are better than one long, tiring interview.
With a phone resting on the table, asking their permission first. Then save the files with a date and a title, and make a copy.
Yes. With Erabox you gather audio, video and photos in a capsule and choose the delivery day, for example a grandchild's 18th birthday.
Read also

Guides to go further

Letter to my grandchildrenGrandparents' stories, to keep close.Read the guide Family tree and family historyGather it today, for those who come after you.Read the guide Writing your life storyOne chapter at a time, with the right questions.Read the guide
Start now

Grandparents' stories are told at the table.
In their own voices, they stay forever.

Gather their words and choose when they reach the grandchildren.

Discover Erabox
notifications

Create something that stays.

The iPhone app is coming soon: leave us your email and we’ll let you know as soon as it’s available. On Android, you can already download it from Google Play.

No spam. Just one message when the iPhone app is available.

check_circle

You’re on the list.

We’ll let you know as soon as the iPhone app is available. Thank you for your trust.