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Dad Field Manual · Field card 185 · Dad-and-Kid Dates

Interview a grandparent (or any elder) at Thanksgiving

Your kid picks a few questions, asks a grandparent or another elder at the Thanksgiving visit, and records the answers with the elder's yes. You keep the recording for good.

Time
1 hour
Cost
$0
Ages
5 to 12
Where
A quiet corner

What you need

  • A phone with a voice recorder or video app
  • The question sheet from the card, or paper and a pencil
  • A quiet corner and a glass of water for your kid and the elder

Before you start

  • Ask before you record, and before you share. Your kid asks, "Can I record our talk?" The recording stays in the family unless the elder says yes to sharing it.
  • Keep it at home. StoryCorps' Great Thanksgiving Listen is for people 13 and older, so this plan keeps the recording in your family and doesn't upload it there.
  • Let them skip. Any question can be passed. If a story turns sad, stop the recorder and listen.

Steps

  1. Pick the questions. Your kid circles 5 to 8 questions on the sheet and adds one of their own. 15 min.
  2. Ask for the interview. Your kid asks the elder for a time and says they'd like to record it. 5 min.
  3. Set up and test. Sit close in a quiet spot, test the recorder, and ask again if it's OK to record. 10 min.
  4. Ask and listen. Start recording. Your kid asks one question at a time, waits through pauses and asks for more. 20 min.
  5. Say thank you and listen back. Say thank you, play a piece back, and cut anything they want left out. 10 min.

If it stalls

  • If your kid gets shy, ask the first question yourself and let them follow with the next.
  • If the elder tells a long story, let it run, and ask your kid to remember one question for later.
Interviewed
Date
Question sheet (circle 5 to 8, skip any)
  1. Where did you grow up, and what was your house like?
  2. What did you do for fun when you were my age?
  3. What's a holiday you remember from when you were little?
  4. Who taught you something important, and what was it?
  5. What was school like for you?
  6. What did you worry about as a kid?
  7. What are you proud of?
  8. What do you want me to remember?
  9. My own question: ____________
One thing I learned
Recording saved by Signed by Date