Sunday September 8th, 2019 is National Grandparents Day and I wanted to honor the amazing grandparents that my kids have. They are lucky that all 4 of their grandparents are living and love spending time with them. My in-laws live the closest so they tend to see the kids the most and have built a very strong bond.
Recently found out that researchers found half of grandparents who participated at least occasionally in their grandchildren’s lives were more likely to be alive five years later than those who had no involvement. So not only is it good for the kids but great for the grandparent.
Now my mom doesn’t see the kids as much so she has mentioned that sometimes it’s hard to keep up with what they like to do. I’ve realized regardless of the phase or interests my kids are into at the moment they always enjoy MAKING, CREATING and PLAYING. Today I wanted to share with you some of our favorite things to do with the grandparents.
MAKE SOMETHING
Urban Kangaroo Bath Bomb Making Kit c/o
My daughter has spent many years baking with her Grammy so it was no surprise that when Urban Kangaroo sent me this bath bomb making kit she was pumped to make them. I loved how this kit was packaged so nicely with all the supplies and when the bath bombs were made the ingredient containers turned into a storage jar with label.
These smelled up the entire kitchen with a wonderful vanilla and lavender scent. This kit was great for both my daughter and Grammy to do together because our kit needed about 2 bottles of water spritzed in slowly so after awhile my daughter needed some help spraying.
Also the balls take some practice getting just right in the mold. We got about 4 perfect circles and then decided to throw the rest of the mixture into some silicone molds that we had on hand.
This is a great lesson of working together and (shhhh) STEM skills!! Yes being able to talk through why you have to put the water in slowly or how many spritzes did it take for the mixture to form a ball gives grandparents the opportunity to teach kiddos about some basic skills while they think they are just making something cool.
After my daughter made this set we went on Amazon and found that Urban Kangaroo also makes a cute Rose soap kit, Hand Lotion Kit and Lip Balm kit she told me to go ahead and add them all to her Christmas list!
Other Things to MAKE:
- Cook Something- this kids cookbook has some fun recipes with good pictures to follow along
- Make a city with train tracks and wood bocks
- Make a fort with silks or pillows and blankets while ensuring that the grandparent has a place to sit that is easy to get up and down from
- Make some slime!
CREATE SOMETHING
This is when those creative juices get flowing! My kids love creating art, projects and well let’s just say making messes. Recently my mother-in-law found these great little paper projects by Creativity for Kids by Faber-Castell, She got this bookmark set for my daughter and an airplane making set for my son. They LOVED creating their new items and then “gifting” them to all the members of the family.
Bookmark Kit | Faber-Castell World Colors colored pencils c/o| Dinosaur Habitat c/o| Peg Brite c/o
Another way to create is through coloring and when Faber-Castell sent over these World of Colors colored pencils I thought FINALLY! Our family (like many) is diverse, we have family members that are all shades and this set of pencils includes 3 that are double sided that you can use to blend an accurate skin tone.
Create a family tree with pictures drawn by the grandparent or grandchild while sharing their ancestry and stories of family traditions.
Looking through all the paper options for the airplane making kit
Other Things to CREATE:
- Create a fairy or dinosaur habitat
- Create pictures, designs or sayings in the Peg Brite board
- Use Aquabeads to create new designs or grab a pattern to your favorite Disney princesses
- Food from Playdoh kitchen creations sets
- Create animals or treats with a sewing kit
PLAY
KANOODLE | TENZI | THE GAME OF SPACE | FIVE CROWNS JR | MANCALA
Now my kids had no hope pretty much 3 out of the 4 grandparents are MAJOR game players and both parents (aka me and Mr. TRM) are super competitive. So when we have grandparents in town some sort of game is getting played.
When my daughter was younger we started off with more cooperative board games like Count Your Chickens from Peaceable Kingdom but now she needs a little more of a challenge.
All of these games are great for ages 6-10 depending on their skill level and easy for grandparents to pick up the rules of the game. Or most recent addition is The Game of Space. This uses magnets, strategy and that fun “gotcha” feeling of Sorry to keep both kids and grandparents engaged.
Other Games to PLAY:
- For younger kids check out The Fairy Game and the Sneaky Snacky Squirrel Game
- Classic Games like Sorry, Connect 4, Monopoly, Go Fish and Guess Who
- Get outside and play catch, soccer or just blow some bubbles
Thank you to Kid Source Products who gifted some of the Faber-Castell, Quercetti products and to Urban Kangaroo who gifted the Bath Bomb set. All messes and opinions are my own (or at the fault of the kids).
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