Activities Guide
57 Family Reunion Trivia Questions (Ready to Use)
Fifty-five trivia questions organized by category, ready to drop into your reunion game. Some answers are obvious to your family, some only the elders will know - and that's the point. Below the questions: how to source your own from family records and elders, plus how to actually run the game.
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Pair this guide with our parent guide on family reunion games and activities and themes. For more grown-up game ideas, see games for adults and for arrival-hour activities, see icebreakers.
Family Origins & Geography
Questions about where the family came from. Ground every reunion in the family's geographic story.
- What country did the family originally emigrate from?
- What year did the family first arrive in the United States (or current home country)?
- What was the port of entry for the first family member to immigrate?
- What was the family's original last name before any spelling changes?
- What city or town did the great-grandparents' generation grow up in?
- Which state has the most family members currently living in it?
- What's the farthest distance any family member has lived from where the family started?
Grandparents & Elders
Questions about the elder generation. These questions are the heart of the game.
- When and where were the grandparents (or matriarch/patriarch) married?
- What was the matriarch's maiden name?
- Where did the matriarch and patriarch first meet?
- What was the patriarch's first job?
- How many siblings did the matriarch have?
- What year were the eldest living family members born?
- What did the grandparents do for their honeymoon?
- What was the family's first home, and what did it cost?
- Who was the first person in the family to go to college?
- Who served in the military, and in what branch?
Family Records & Superlatives
The 'who is the most...' category. Always a crowd favorite.
- Which family member has visited the most countries?
- Which family member has the most children?
- Who is the tallest family member?
- Who has the longest marriage in the family?
- Who has the largest age gap between their first and last child?
- Which family member has worked the longest at the same job?
- Who has lived in the most different states?
- Which family member moved the farthest from home?
- Who is the oldest living family member?
- Who is the youngest family member at this reunion?
Family Recipes & Food
Recipe trivia honors the family cooks. Often the most surprising answers.
- What dish is grandma (or the family matriarch) famous for making?
- What's the recipe that has been passed down the most generations in the family?
- Which family member makes the best [insert family-specific dish]?
- What was the traditional Sunday dinner growing up?
- What's the one dish nobody can replicate the way grandma makes it?
- What was the family's favorite restaurant when the parents were kids?
- Which family member has won a cooking competition or contest?
Reunion History
Self-referential questions about the reunion itself. Especially good for repeat reunions.
- When was the first family reunion held?
- Where was the most attended reunion in family history?
- Who has been to the most consecutive family reunions?
- What was the theme of last year's reunion?
- Which family member has organized the most reunions?
- What was the funniest moment from last year's reunion?
- Which year had the largest reunion attendance?
Inside Jokes & Family Lore
Family-specific. These are the questions that make trivia FAMILY trivia.
- Who in the family says [insert family catchphrase] the most?
- What's the story behind [insert family inside joke]?
- Which family member is the source of [family nickname]?
- What did [family member] say that became a running joke?
- Which family member has the most stories about [shared experience]?
Decades & Pop Culture (Family Edition)
Tie family memories to historical moments. Mixes general knowledge with family-specific anchors.
- What year did the family get its first television?
- Where was the family during a major historical event (moon landing, JFK, 9/11)?
- What was the family's first car?
- Who in the family is featured in the oldest photograph anyone has?
- What music was playing at grandma and grandpa's wedding?
- What was the family's first computer or first time online?
Bonus / Wild Cards
Open-ended questions that reward creativity. End rounds with these.
- Name three family members who share a birthday month.
- Name every grandchild of the matriarch/patriarch in birth order.
- Which family member has the most unique career?
- Which family member you haven't seen in 5+ years should you talk to today?
- Name the family member most likely to start a business.
How to Source Your Own Questions
The 55 questions above will get you started, but the best trivia is family-specific. Three ways to source it:
- Interview elders by phone, not text. Call grandma. Ask: "Tell me about your wedding day. What dress did you wear? Who was there? What did you eat?" A 30-minute call generates 15 trivia questions and turns into a relationship moment. The phone call itself is half the gift.
- Dig through family records. Family Bibles often have birth, marriage, and death records penciled in the front. Old photo albums have dates and locations. Letters from the 50s-70s mention towns, jobs, and travel. A 2-hour archive dive yields a goldmine.
- Crowdsource by branch. Email each branch leader six weeks before the reunion: "Send me 5 trivia questions about the family - facts only YOUR branch would know." You get diverse questions and the branches feel ownership in the game.
Combine all three sources. The phone calls produce the most emotionally resonant questions; the records produce the most surprising answers; the crowdsource fills in the breadth.
How to Structure the Game
The format that works most reliably:
- Two teams of 5-8 each. Mix ages intentionally so each team has elders, parents, teens, and kids.
- Five rounds of 5 questions each. Total 25 questions. Have 5-10 backups ready in case any are too easy or hard.
- 10 minutes per round. Read the questions, give teams 30-60 seconds to confer, collect answers on paper, read correct answers at the end of the round.
- One point per question. Bonus point for the most creative wrong answer per round (judged by the host) - keeps energy up.
- Score on a whiteboard. Don't use an app. The analog scoreboard becomes a photo prop and adds drama.
- Prize: Small candy, a dollar-store trophy, the right to pick next year's reunion location from a shortlist, or just bragging rights.
Total game time: 50-60 minutes. Run it after dinner when everyone's settled and the kids haven't hit the wall yet.
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❓ Frequently Asked Questions
How do I source family trivia questions?
Three sources: phone interviews with elders (richest material), family records (Bibles, photo albums, old letters), and crowdsourcing from each branch. Combine all three.
How many questions do I need?
25-30 for a 45-minute game (5 rounds of 5-6). Have 10-15 backups - some questions are too easy or hard and need replacing in real time.
How do I structure the game?
Five rounds of 5 questions. Two teams of 5-8 with mixed ages. 10 min/round. Answers read at the end of each round. Whiteboard scoreboard. Small prize for the winners.
Best way to keep score?
Whiteboard or large posterboard. Don't use an app - the analog scoreboard becomes a photo prop. Award bonus points for the most creative wrong answer per round.
Should kids play family trivia?
Mix kids onto adult teams rather than running a separate kid game. Kids ages 8+ pick up family-history facts surprisingly fast. The intergenerational team is the magic.
Plan Your Reunion Trivia in One Place
Reunly lets you collect crowdsourced trivia questions from each branch, store them in one shared workspace, and print the game-day question sheet.