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OTTUMWA, IOWA -- When I was a kid, my mom would say, "When I was your age, I walked to school uphill both ways with no shoes!", when we complained about not having a ride to school. She was kidding, of course, but the point was that things were different when she was young. And things were even more different when her parents were young.

That is exactly what third, fourth and fifth graders at Seton Catholic School learned when they got a glimpse in the past Thursday morning.

Volunteers from the Seneca Area Agency on Aging gave a presentation to the students as a part of National Older Americans Month. They talked about the kinds of toys and electronics they had available growing up, and how they compared to what kids have today.

"We wanted to show what some of the older Americans... what they did, what they played with, what they might have asked for their Christmas, what they might have asked for birthdays, versus what the children do now," said Joan Nydle, Family Caregiver Specialist at Seneca.

The kids were able to see dolls that were 100 years old, a locket with photos of family members and a picture of an old, red tricycle.

The biggest shock came when they heard that many older Americans, like their grandparents, had only one television, if they were lucky enough to have a television at all. Moreover, that one TV came with just a handful of channels in black and white.

Nydle said the students were very attentive and interested in learning what life was like growing up "in the old days".