Kids & Family

Happy Grandparents Day! 5 Last-Minute Gift Ideas to Make For Grandma, Grandpa

Grandparents' Day is today, Sept. 8, and Patch searched the Web for ideas to make this Sunday stand out.




By Patch Staff:

Grandparents' Day began in the United States in 1978.

The holiday is held on the first Sunday after Labor Day and is meant not only to honor those with familial ties, but began in an effort to highlight the contributions seniors have made on society.

There is an official song to commemorate the holiday, which was adopted by the National Grandparents' Day Council of Chula Vista, California in 2004.

Wikipedia points out that the number of grandparents is expected to grow from 65 million in 2011 to 80 million in 2020 as a result of the baby boom.

It also highlights the statistic that "in 2012, 30% of children under five with working mothers were cared for on a regular basis by a grandparent."

In researching the holiday, we came across a site with 200 ideas for Grandparents Day that put the focus on legacy.

Between that site and a few others, here are our top five favorite ideas:
  1. A handmade poem or card or booklet. We like the printables we found here, which can get you started. We also really like the idea of bringing the blank template to grandma's or grandpa's house and doing the project with them.

  2. This family tree is a really cool idea.

  3. Interview your grandparent. This page has some great ideas on how to do it and what kinds of questions you might want to ask. It also creates a scenario in which the grandparent is encouraged to ask the grandchild questions right back. What we love about this is that you can do this even as an adult and you can capture your grandparents' stories and help keep history alive.

  4. Play a game. We like the Inter-generational Games we found here, but really, a game of Monopoly or Go Fish still gets the kids (even the adult ones) to spend time with grandma or grandpa and hopefully to talk and have fun together.

  5. Create a mini scrapbook together. We like the one which incorporates the family tree and interview from above in one project.

Got some other great ideas on how to celebrate this day? 

Tell us in the comments.



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