Grandmas... Need fun activities with grandchildren
 

The grandchildren are coming to visit for a few hours on a Sunday afternoon with their parents. There is a boy (6) and a girl (5).

What fun things do you do with your grandchildren when they come to visit?

bake and/or decorate cookies, color with them, play a board game, go for a walk...

Not a grandma but........

Messy art projects are always fun, cutting up magazines and making collages, painting pre stamped wood or ceramic ornaments or decoration items, making a Christmas card for parents or other family member.

Kids love to bake cookies mixing the dough or decorating the sugar cookies or gingerbread people

Take some silly holiday family pictures print them and put them in homemade cards for mom and dad

Rent DVDs and watch holiday movies together with hot chocolate and cookies or pop corn

Kids do love to go on walks collect or take pictures of the odd/ pretty/ or different things you see.

Make a fort in the living room get inside and read stories or tell them stories about when thier mom/dad was young or even your childhood. (the fort is important here kids love forts)

Hide some things around the house they can keep and have them "find" it. Tell them if they are getting hot or cold.

Make some homemade play dough( salt, flour and water), then let them make a round patty to place their hand on. Or whatever they would like to make, maybe an ornament for the tree, Kids that age love squishing dough in their hands. My grandson is 9 years old, and he still likes to mess with Play Dough. I usually buy it at the Dollar Store so he has different colors . We use cookie cutters with it . I could use those to actually make cookies, but then we have a mess.LOL

I am making gingerbread houses with mine, 6 kids, all aged 4-9. it will be so much fun. We did it last year but only 3 were here, and they loved it. You can buy the kits, to make it easier cause there is no baking

If that sounds like too much just make gingerbread men, you can bake them yourself, and the decorating would be fun for them, and then everyone gets to eat!

Pop sickle sticks glue and a few odds and ends make fun ornaments too

Reindeer
Handprint and frame
Or picture frame ornaments

My kids made these and I still hang them on the tree every year. .

Ask parents what they like unless it's video games. Do they still make disposable cameras? Give them each one and take them outside for a walk and take photos or take photos inside during and after crafting/creating. Create a memory book. So many great ideas.

If you don't want to get TOO carried away with cookie decorating, you can make a batch of brownies, cut them out with a tree cookie cutter, and let the kids slather on green frosting and decorate with mini M&Ms.

My grandson loves to play "Go Fish" and Monopoly. He is 6. He likes to play on the computer but he really likes the attention he gets when we play a board game. Candyland is good, too. Baking cookies is another past time. My kitchen is a mess but that's OK. Floors mop real easy. We color pictures and read books, too. If it's warm outside, side walk chalk is a fun thing and don't forget the bubbles. Sometimes the old fashion things are the best.

Grandpa makes sweet rolls with the grandkids. A 'must do' for every gathering.

Great ideas being shared. Reading stories to them while sitting with them one on each side is treasured time spent at Grandma's. A great time to share stories of Christmases past or of giving to others, etc. Enjoy them, they grow up wayyy too fast!

If you have shoe boxes around, you could let them cover the boxes with fabric scraps & mod podge. They will have their own treasure box. This is always fun for kids.

I am making fleece tie pillow kits for mine .... ages 7-3. the older ones can tie and I will help the younger ones... do them like the tie fleece blankets, only pillows with pillow forms... We have Frozen fleece for the girls, Spiderman, Ninja's and Olaf for the boys.... I think it will be fun.

I use masking tape to make an indoor hopscotch grid. I've also made little bean bags and then set up 'targets'--shoe boxes or pails at varying distances. As said before, some old magazines, some art paper, kid's scissors and a glue stick are great for creating their own pictures or collages.

I've found that baking is not always so good with my girls (6 and 3) because the younger one insists on doing everything her sister does. We have over come that problem by making two of everything-the younger one's on a smaller scale of course. If you go the kitchen fun route, make sure you have a couple of aprons handy (old shirts with a piece of tape for a belt, work. )

I saw this simple kid recipe that I will be doing with my granddaughter. Also make candy canes with beads and pipe cleaners, clay ornaments, foam ornament kits from craft store. Have fin![ATTACH=CONFIG]503122[/ATTACH]

Spread plastic on your table and let them "paint" different shapes of pasta (must have hole to string them) and when they are dry, they can string them for the Christmas tree, necklaces, bracelets, etc. if they will be used, or you want them to last, spray them with clear acrylic and allow to dry before stringing. They can paint with food coloring, acrylic paints, or even use felt pens.

What great ideas! It makes me miss my grand babies. The last time I was with them we had such great fun making Gingerbread houses from the kits and reading books. We used chalk outside (not a rainy day for once!) and drew mazes and walked the lines and mazes. My 6yo grandson is so in charge he would tell us (myself and his younger brother) when to stop and go. Oh my the time went so fast!