Gift Ideas for Grandparents’ Day

Grandparents’ Day is swiftly approaching, as this year it falls on September 9th.  This is the day of the year set aside for celebrating that all-important relationship between grandparent and grandchild. Grannies, Grandpas, Nanas and Pop-pops play a very important role in many children’s lives, and they certainly deserve recognition. They are givers of gifts, imparters of wisdom, and founts of love and affection. It’s only natural that you would want to help your children create some special gifts for their beloved grandparents to celebrate this special day. Here are a few ideas for you and your kids to help you get started on Grandparents’ Day gifts.

• Make a photo collage. Grandparents love photos of their grandchildren, so give them lots of photos! Find pictures of your kids with the grandparents, pictures of special occasions that the grandparents were not able to attend, or some of each. Using paste and stiff poster paper, help your kids arrange cut out pictures into the shape of a heart, or into some other meaningful arrangement. Let them use glitter, markers, and other decorations to personalize the collages. You can even have the collage framed, so the lucky grandparents can display it on their wall right away.
• Bake cookies. Children love to help in the kitchen, so help yours choose and make a special treat for their grandparents. Because this will be a homemade treat, you’ll be able to ensure that it fits with any special dietary needs that the grandparents may have. The kids can mix ingredients and decorate baked goods, but you’ll have to supervise any oven use.
• Make a story book. Encourage your child to create a story about her and her grandparents, and write it down. Then have her draw some illustrations to go with it. Arrange the pages of story and illustration into a homemade book for your child to give to her grandparents. The story can be about something fun that your child and her grandparents did together, or something she would like to do with them. It can even be pure fantasy. Either way, the grandparents in your child’s life will love their personalized book from their favorite budding author.
• Create a nature picture. Take your children on a walk through the park and encourage them to pick up things they find beautiful or interesting. Leaves, pebbles, shells, flowers, and nuts are all good examples of interesting nature items.  Take these found treasures home, and help your child arrange and glue them onto a piece of construction paper, around a picture of himself. This will make for an interesting piece of artwork that his grandparents will definitely love.

Remember that when actual grandparents were asked what they would like the most for Grandparents’ Day, the overwhelming majority answered, “a visit.” Grandparents want to see their grandchildren (and their adult children) in person. So if a visit to see the grandparents is a possibility on the Sunday after Labor Day this year, that would be the best gift that you and your children can give.