• 150 questions

Questions for Seniors

An open question about how things used to be for a circle of older adults, never a quiz.

Questions for Seniors

What sound meant the working day was over where you grew up?

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Who came through the door soon after? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.

Next step A game where the grandchildren answer too

All 150 questions

School days 20

  • How did the school day begin where you grew up: a bell, a song, a line-up? Follow-up: What happened to anyone who came in late? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did children learn at school then that ought to be taught again? Follow-up: Who would you put in charge of teaching it? Looking back.
  • What did children trade at lunchtime in your schoolyard? Follow-up: What was the best swap you ever made? Go-round. Bring: a lunch pail or a thermos.
  • What did you write with at school, and what mess did it make? Follow-up: What did the teacher say about your handwriting? Go-round. Bring: a fountain pen, a pencil box or a slate.
  • What did your school desk look like, and what was carved into it? Follow-up: What did you keep inside it? Go-round.
  • What did your school put on for a big day: a play, a concert, a field day? Follow-up: What part did you have in it? Story.
  • What happened at your school when the weather turned bad? Follow-up: How did everyone get home? Story.
  • What made a good teacher in your day, and who was the best you had? Follow-up: What did they do that the others did not? Looking back.
  • What poem, pledge or times table did your class chant out loud together? Follow-up: How did it sound with everyone going at once? Story.
  • What rhyme, chant or clapping game did your schoolyard have? Follow-up: Who was the quickest at it? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was class picture day like, and where did the photographer put you? Follow-up: What face were you making? Story. Bring: a class photograph.
  • What was fair and what was unfair about the way school was run in your day? Follow-up: What would you change first? Looking back.
  • What was the route to your school like: the hills, the shortcuts, the dogs to avoid? Follow-up: What happened on the way that you still laugh about? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the strictest rule at your school, and who broke it anyway? Follow-up: What happened to them? Story.
  • What was your school building like: how many rooms, how many grades in each? Follow-up: How was it kept warm in winter? Story.
  • What were you made to do at the blackboard in front of everyone? Follow-up: How did it go? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What were your school shoes like, and how long did a pair have to last? Follow-up: What happened when you outgrew them? Go-round.
  • What would surprise a child today most about your school days? Follow-up: What would surprise you most about theirs? Looking back.
  • Who got sent to the principal's office in your class, and what for? Follow-up: What was said about it at home? Story.
  • Who was the class clown in your year, and what was their best stunt? Follow-up: How did the teacher take it? Story.

First jobs and first wages 20

  • How did your kind of work change between your first day and your last? Follow-up: Which change did you welcome? Looking back.
  • How was your first pay handed to you: an envelope, a check, coins in your palm? Follow-up: Who counted it with you? Go-round.
  • If you ran a household, what did a full working day at home involve? Follow-up: Which job came round far too often? Story.
  • What badge, cap or apron told people what you did for a living? Follow-up: How did people treat you when you had it on? Go-round. Bring: a uniform cap, an apron or a name badge.
  • What did people at your first workplace do at lunchtime? Follow-up: Where did you sit, and with whom? Story.
  • What did you hand over from your first wages, and what were you allowed to keep? Follow-up: Who decided the split? Go-round.
  • What did you learn about people from serving them, selling to them or working beside them? Follow-up: Where did that come in handy later? Looking back.
  • What did your town make, grow or mine when you were young? Follow-up: Who in your family worked there? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What job in your town has disappeared altogether, and who did you know that did it? Follow-up: What would they make of the town today? Story.
  • What joke did the old hands play on a new hire where you worked? Follow-up: How did you take it when your turn came? Story.
  • What makes someone good to work beside, whatever the job? Follow-up: Who was the best you ever worked with? Looking back.
  • What object from your working days have you kept, and where does it live now? Follow-up: What story goes with it? Go-round. Bring: a tool of your trade.
  • What sound meant the working day was over where you grew up? Follow-up: Who came through the door soon after? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What trick of your trade did outsiders never know about? Follow-up: Who let you in on it? Story.
  • What was it like to be the youngest person in the workplace? Follow-up: What did the older ones call you? Story.
  • What was payday like in your town: where did people go, and what did they buy? Follow-up: What was the payday treat in your family? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the busiest day of the year in your line of work? Follow-up: How did everyone get through it? Story.
  • What was the dirtiest, coldest or hottest job you ever did? Follow-up: What did you do first when the shift ended? Story.
  • What was the first hour of your working day like? Follow-up: Who was always in before you? Go-round.
  • Which stretch of your working life would you gladly do twice? Follow-up: Who would you want working beside you? Looking back.

The kitchen you grew up in 20

  • How is the way families eat now different, and what do you make of it? Follow-up: Which habit from the old table have you kept? Looking back.
  • How was food kept cold, or kept for winter, in the house you grew up in? Follow-up: What was stored in the cellar or pantry? Story.
  • What came out of the oven at your house that brought everyone running? Follow-up: Who got the first piece? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did the cook in your house measure by eye, by the handful or by feel? Follow-up: How did it turn out when you tried it their way? Story. Bring: a wooden spoon or a mixing bowl.
  • What did the cooking in your house teach you about making do? Follow-up: What do you still do the same way? Looking back.
  • What did the kitchen look like on the morning of a big family meal? Follow-up: Who was given which job? Story.
  • What did the kitchen table hear in your house that no other room did? Follow-up: Who did the most talking there? Looking back.
  • What did the kitchen you grew up in look like: the floor, the stove, the table? Follow-up: What hung on the walls? Story. Bring: a photograph of a family kitchen.
  • What did your family eat on an ordinary weeknight? Follow-up: Which night of the week had the best supper? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did your family grow, pick, can or bake rather than buy? Follow-up: Which of those jobs fell to you? Story.
  • What did your family's good dishes look like, and when did they come out? Follow-up: Who was trusted to wash them? Go-round. Bring: a plate or a cup from a good set.
  • What dish did your family make that no other family seemed to? Follow-up: Where did the recipe come from? Go-round. Bring: a recipe card.
  • What kitchen gadget of today would have amazed the cook in your childhood home? Follow-up: Which one would they have refused to use? Looking back.
  • What was always on the stove or in the oven at your house? Follow-up: Who was doing the cooking? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the dessert at your house that everyone hoped for? Follow-up: How was it shared out fairly? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the rule at your table about cleaning your plate? Follow-up: How did you get around it? Story.
  • What was your job in the kitchen as a child? Follow-up: What were you never allowed to touch? Go-round.
  • What went on in your kitchen besides cooking: homework, haircuts, card games? Follow-up: Who was nearly always in there? Story.
  • What were you taught to make from scratch that most people now buy in a box? Follow-up: Who taught you, and how did the first batch turn out? Story.
  • Where did everyone sit at your family table, and who had the best seat? Follow-up: Who was always last to sit down? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.

Dances and outings 20

  • How did people ask each other out when you were young? Follow-up: What was a typical first date where you lived? Story.
  • How did your generation have a good time on next to nothing? Follow-up: Which of those pastimes would still work today? Looking back.
  • What band, singer or show did you see live when you were young? Follow-up: How did you come by the tickets? Story. Bring: a ticket stub, a program or a record.
  • What dance steps did everyone know, and who taught them to you? Follow-up: Where did you practice? Go-round.
  • What did a night out have then that a night out lacks now? Follow-up: What is better about going out today? Looking back.
  • What did getting ready for a night out involve at your house? Follow-up: Who got the mirror first? Story.
  • What did going dancing teach you that nothing else did? Follow-up: Where else did that come in useful? Looking back.
  • What did it cost to get into the movies, and what did you buy to eat there? Follow-up: Where did you like to sit? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did the fair, circus or carnival look like when it rolled into your town? Follow-up: What did you spend your coins on? Go-round.
  • What got packed for a family picnic, and who carried the basket? Follow-up: Where did you spread the blanket? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What songs filled the dance floor when you were young? Follow-up: Which one did you think of as yours? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the farthest you traveled before you were twenty, and how did you go? Follow-up: What surprised you when you arrived? Story.
  • What was the first car you rode in, and whose was it? Follow-up: What was the longest ride you took in it? Story.
  • What was the first dance you went to, and what did you wear? Follow-up: Who had the nerve to ask whom? Go-round. Bring: dancing shoes, a hair ribbon or a dance card.
  • What was the movie house in your town like: the seats, the usher, the curtain? Follow-up: Who did you go with? Go-round.
  • Where did people go to swim, skate or sled where you grew up? Follow-up: Who was the daredevil in your crowd? Story.
  • Where did you first see the sea, the mountains or a big city? Follow-up: What did you send or bring home from there? Story. Bring: a postcard or a souvenir.
  • Where did young people go on a Saturday night where you grew up? Follow-up: How did you get there and back? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • Which outing from your younger days would you take a young friend on tomorrow? Follow-up: What would you tell them on the way? Looking back.
  • Who chaperoned the dances where you grew up, and what did they watch for? Follow-up: What did people get away with anyway? Story.

How everyday things were done 22

  • How did bath night work in your house, and who got the water first? Follow-up: What was the rush to be done by? Story.
  • How did clothes get made, mended and handed down in your family? Follow-up: Which hand-me-down did you love, or hate? Story. Bring: a sewing kit, a darning egg or a button tin.
  • How did news and gossip travel around your town? Follow-up: Who always knew first? Story.
  • How did people get their hair cut and set where you lived? Follow-up: What style did you ask for? Go-round.
  • How did the washing get done at your house, and on which day? Follow-up: Where did it all dry in winter? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • How did your family keep cool on the hottest nights of the year? Follow-up: Where did you end up sleeping? Story.
  • How did your household wake up on time, and who was hardest to get out of bed? Follow-up: What finally worked on them? Story.
  • How was your home heated, and whose job was it to keep the heat going? Follow-up: Which room was the warm one? Go-round.
  • What came to your door by delivery: milk, bread, ice, coal? Follow-up: What did the delivery man drive, ride or lead? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did a bus, streetcar or train ride cost, and where did it take you? Follow-up: Who did you ride with? Go-round.
  • What did people do better by hand than any machine does now? Follow-up: Who was the best at it that you knew? Looking back.
  • What did waiting for things teach people that same-day delivery cannot? Follow-up: What was most worth the wait? Looking back.
  • What did your family listen to on the radio, and who chose the station? Follow-up: Which program could nobody miss? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What happened when something broke: a shoe, a radio, a chair leg? Follow-up: Who in your family could fix anything? Story. Bring: a toolbox or a tin of odd screws.
  • What was having your photograph taken like: the studio, the pose, the wait for the prints? Follow-up: Which picture did everyone want a copy of? Story. Bring: a family album or a box camera.
  • What was it like when a letter or a long-distance call came to your house? Follow-up: Who was it usually from? Story.
  • What was learning to drive like, and what did you learn in? Follow-up: Who was brave enough to sit beside you? Story.
  • Where did your family do the shopping, and how did it get carried home? Follow-up: Which shopkeeper knew you by name? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • Where was the telephone in your house, and who was allowed to use it? Follow-up: Who listened in? Go-round. Bring: a rotary telephone.
  • Which change in daily life did people grumble about that turned out fine? Follow-up: Who grumbled the loudest? Looking back.
  • Which everyday job took a whole day then and takes a minute now? Follow-up: What did people talk about while they did it? Looking back.
  • Whose house on your street had the first television, and what did you watch? Follow-up: How many people squeezed in to see it? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.

The street you grew up on 16

  • How did neighbors help each other out on your street? Follow-up: What did your family lend or borrow most often? Story.
  • What did the grown-ups on your street know about raising children that still holds? Follow-up: Which of their rules did you keep? Looking back.
  • What did the seasons bring to your street: snow forts, fireflies, leaf piles? Follow-up: Which season did you wait for all year? Story.
  • What did you climb, jump off or swing from where you grew up? Follow-up: Who dared whom? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What made a street a good street to grow up on? Follow-up: Which street since has come closest? Looking back.
  • What street game had rules that only your neighborhood knew? Follow-up: How were you called in at night? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What toy, bike or ball did the whole street share or fight over? Follow-up: Whose was it really? Go-round. Bring: a marble bag, a jump rope or a yo-yo.
  • What was at the end of your street: a field, a factory, a river, a railroad track? Follow-up: What were you allowed to do there? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What was the big event on your street that people talked about for years? Follow-up: Where were you when it happened? Story.
  • What was the grandest building in the town where you grew up, and what went on inside? Follow-up: When did you first go in? Story. Bring: an old postcard or a map of the town.
  • What went past your front door every day: a train, a bus, a wagon, a herd? Follow-up: What did you set your day by? Go-round.
  • Where did the children of your neighborhood build forts, dens or clubhouses? Follow-up: What were the rules for getting in? Story.
  • Where were you told not to go, and what happened when you went? Follow-up: Who told on you? Story.
  • Which dog, cat or horse did everybody on your street know by name? Follow-up: What was it known for? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • Who was the character of your neighborhood that everyone had a story about? Follow-up: Which story got told the most? Story.
  • Whose front porch or front step did everyone gather on, and what went on there? Follow-up: Who was always there first? Go-round.

Advice worth passing on 16

  • What can only time teach, however clever a person is? Follow-up: How did time teach it to you? Looking back.
  • What did people fuss over when you were young that nobody minds now? Follow-up: What do people fuss over now instead? Story.
  • What did you talk someone into that they thanked you for later? Follow-up: How did you persuade them? Story.
  • What did your grandparents' generation know that yours let slip? Follow-up: Who still knows how? Story.
  • What do young people today do better than your generation did? Follow-up: What could they still learn from yours? Looking back.
  • What does a person need to be content, now that you have had time to think it over? Follow-up: When did you work that out? Looking back.
  • What household tip do you swear by that young people have never heard? Follow-up: Who passed it on to you? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What is the best advice you ever got about cooking, fixing or growing things? Follow-up: Who gave it, and how long before you listened? Go-round.
  • What is the best way to welcome a newcomer to a street, a club or a table? Follow-up: When did someone do that for you? Story.
  • What is the secret to getting along with a neighbor, a boss or an in-law? Follow-up: Who tested that secret the hardest? Story.
  • What is worth being stubborn about, and what is not? Follow-up: When did being stubborn pay off for you? Looking back.
  • What keeps a friendship going for fifty years? Follow-up: Who taught you that? Story.
  • What piece of weather lore, kitchen lore or garden lore went round where you grew up? Follow-up: How often did it turn out right? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What skill should every young person learn before leaving home? Follow-up: Who made sure you learned it? Go-round.
  • What would you tell a new graduate, a new parent or a newlywed in one sentence? Follow-up: Which of the three needs it most? Looking back.
  • Which manners were you raised on that you still keep? Follow-up: Which one would you gladly let go? Go-round.

Proudest moments 16

  • What could you give this room a five-minute lesson in? Follow-up: Who here would sign up first? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What did you do that nobody in your family had done before? Follow-up: What did the family say? Story.
  • What did you fix, build or organize that people said could not be done? Follow-up: Who doubted you the loudest? Story.
  • What did you sew, build, grow or bake that people asked for again? Follow-up: Who asked the most often? Go-round. Bring: the thing itself, or a picture of it.
  • What did you teach someone that they went on to do well? Follow-up: How did they take to it at the start? Story.
  • What do people come to you for, and how did you get to be the one they ask? Follow-up: Who came to you most recently? Looking back.
  • What is the best compliment anyone ever paid you? Follow-up: Who said it? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • What is the kindest thing you ever did that nobody knew about? Follow-up: Why did you keep it quiet? Story.
  • What party trick, talent or knack have you always had? Follow-up: When did you last show it off? Go-round.
  • What photograph shows you at your proudest, and what was the occasion? Follow-up: Who was standing just out of the picture? Go-round. Bring: a photograph of a proud day.
  • What team, club, choir or crew were you proud to belong to? Follow-up: What did you do best together? Go-round.
  • What were you trusted with for the first time that made you stand a little taller? Follow-up: How old were you, and who noticed? Go-round. Coffee morning 30.
  • When did you stand up to speak, sing or perform in front of a crowd? Follow-up: What did the crowd do? Story.
  • When did you stick with something long after others had quit? Follow-up: What kept you at it? Story.
  • Which job well done are you still pleased with, years later? Follow-up: What made it hard to get right? Looking back.
  • Which of your achievements would have amazed you at sixteen? Follow-up: What would your sixteen-year-old self ask about it? Looking back.

How it works

An activity leader, a visiting volunteer or a grandchild can put any of the 150 questions for seniors to a circle of older adults. No card has a right answer, and none opens with Do you remember. Press Next question and read it out.

Read the full guide

Eight topics and three levels

The Topic or set row has eight topics, from School days and First jobs and first wages to Advice worth passing on and Proudest moments. Easy (60 cards) is a go-round: everyone answers in a sentence. Medium (60) asks one or two people for a story. Hard (30) looks back, and suits the last ten minutes.

Running the circle

Read the card out twice, answer it yourself first, then go round; anyone may pass. When an answer stops short, Show follow-up gives a second question for that person. These conversation starters for seniors are a talking activity, not a therapy and not a test: no card asks about health, today's finances or loss.

  • Coffee morning 30 is the thirty go-round cards anyone at the table can answer. Print, on the end card, turns them into slips.
  • Bring an object holds 20 cards that start from a thing, such as a recipe card or a class photograph. Show follow-up names it.
  • Visiting one person? Choose Medium, ask one card and wait out the pause. One long story beats ten cards.

Questions and answers

What are good questions for old people to get them talking?

Ask how things were done, not what someone can recall. What came to your door by delivery: milk, bread, ice, coal? gives everyone in the circle an answer, nobody can be wrong, and one answer sets off the next.

Are these senior questions for high school seniors?

No. Every card is for older adults looking back: first wages, dance floors, wash day. A twelfth-grade class will find nothing here about graduation or college; the teen deck in the links below suits them.

Can I print the questions in large type?

Not yet. Pick Coffee morning 30, then Print on the end card: the 30 print as slips, in ordinary type. For bigger letters, raise the scale setting in your browser's print window, or zoom in and show one card on a tablet.

How is this different from trivia for seniors?

Trivia has right answers and a score; these cards have neither. For a quiz with answers, use the trivia page. For a dinner game where grandchildren answer too, use the family questions game. No question here appears on either.

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