Interview a grown-up

You will ask a familiar grown-up about when they were your age. Listening for a detail gives you a useful follow-up question, while permission lets them choose what to share.

Words
Explorer
About 20 minutes

Help needed: yes for preparation and any interview or delivery

What you need

An older person you know well who agrees to talk
Paper
A pencil
Five prepared questions

The rule

Ask about when they were your age.

How to do it

Ask whether they want a short interview.
Prepare five questions about ordinary childhood experiences.
Begin with one question and listen without interrupting.
Ask a related follow-up if the person welcomes it.
Write brief notes they are comfortable with you keeping.
Read back one detail and let them correct your understanding.

Why it works

An interview gathers someone’s account rather than directly observing the past. Open questions can invite descriptions, and a follow-up can clarify a detail you did not understand. Memory may be incomplete or change over time, so a remembered story is not the same as an independently checked historical record. Reading back your notes gives the speaker a chance to correct what you heard. Respecting a skipped question also helps keep the conversation voluntary.

Make it harder

Ask what changed between then and now.
Use a follow-up based on one unexpected detail.
Separate a remembered detail from a fact that would need another source.

Ask Taz

Why do open questions invite longer answers?
Why might a memory leave out details?
Why should I read back my understanding?

Ask Taz

Before you start

The person interviewed may decline any question or stop the interview. Do not record audio or share private family details; a short written note for home is enough. Avoid asking for addresses, schools or identifying information. Ask at dinner: “Which follow-up helped you understand the first answer better?”

Taz is an AI and can be wrong, so check what matters. Read how safety works on Taz.

Show us yours

Film your hands and what you made, not your face or name. If you are under 18, ask a parent or guardian before posting anywhere else.

Common questions

Does this need a polished written page?

No. Begin with a short attempt, and speak or sketch ideas before writing if that helps. Keep the stated rule visible and revise one useful detail. The time estimate allows a first attempt rather than promising a finished piece in a fixed time.

How should a helper respond?

Ask what was meant and name a detail that helped you understand it. If a word or connection is unclear, explain your reading and choose a revision together. The activity is a conversation about choices rather than a spelling competition.

Do we need to post it online?

No. Reading it together at home is enough. Follow the privacy line above if you later choose to share.

More to try

See all Taz Challenges, or look through the science labs. One place for every why. Start exploring at aitaz.com