Grandparents Day Activities

Coloring is an activity that can be enjoyed together by children of all ages and their grandparents. Provide your students with some coloring pages that they and their grandparents can work on together as the grandparents arrive in your classroom.

Introductions

Once all of the grandparents have arrived, let your students take turns introducing them to the class. If a student does not have a grandparent or special person in class with them, quietly ask another student's grandparents if they would be willing to "adopt" an extra grandchild for the day. In this manner, no child is left out of the celebration. Neither does the real grandchild need to feel any jealousy, as long as the grandparents are careful to include both children in the activities and conversations. Another option is for one of a set of two grandparents to "adopt" another child for the day, while the other grandparent stays with the grandchild.

Family Tree

Provide each set of grandparents and grandchild with a piece of white construction paper. Ask the students and grandparents to draw a tree without leaves on the paper. Then pass out sheets of green construction paper with leaf outlines printed on them to each family group. Let the students and grandparents work together to cut out the leaves. Now instruct the grandparents and children to talk together about who is in their family. Have them write names on the leaves and then glue the leaves to the tree limbs in the drawing. They need not be in any certain order.

Handprints

This is a fantastic activity that will be cherished by both the grandparents and the grandchildren. Set out a large sheet of construction paper for each family group. Using either a colorful stamp pad or finger paints, have the grandparents and grandchildren each make their handprint (or handprints) on the sheet of construction paper. Make sure they write their names beneath their handprints and write the year at the top of the page.

Booklet

Give each family group a small booklet of notebook sized paper that you have already printed questions on, folded in half and stapled at the seam. Let the grandparents and grandchildren work together at answering the questions.

Some examples of questions you might put in the booklet are:

______'s favorite snack is ______.
______'s favorite childhood snack was _____. Now he/she likes _____.

_____'s favorite cartoon is ______.
_____'s favorite cartoon was _____.

Let the grandparents and their grandchildren decorate the front cover by coloring a picture of themselves together.