Fun Things to Do with Grandkids

Are you a grandparent looking for more fun things to do with your grandchildren? Does it seem like just yesterday they were amused with funny peek-a-boo games and colorful toddler toys, and you can’t find enough fun things to do together? Check out some of the following fun suggestions and start building even more fun-filled memories of your times together.

Indoors:

Find things to do around the house together.  This can be especially handy on days you lack the energy, or the weather is not favorable for you to spend quality time together outdoors. 

Card Games and Puzzles

Teach them simple card games or play a few childhood card game classics like War, Old Maid, Uno, Go Fish, Matching, etc. or put together age-appropriate puzzles. 

Create Together!

• Build a fort with blankets, sheets or other materials strung over chairs or other sturdy objects. 
• Make Paper Airplanes and see who can fly them the farthest.  
• Make paper hats or boats with newspapers. You can look online for ways to make them or go from your own memories.
• Build a birdhouse with kits for kids at a local Craft store. If you are handy, you can build it and have your grandchildren help with decorating it, adding bird seed or nesting material. 
• Draw pictures together of things in the house, family members, or favorite things. 
• Color in coloring books, or Paint pictures together.

Play Classic Games

Play games like Checkers, Chinese Checkers, Monopoly, Backgammon, Jenga, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Tik Tac Toe, pickup sticks, Barrel of Monkeys, Snakes & Ladders, Chest (some of these may still be around your house where you can dust them off and introduce them to your grands.

Balloon Juggle

Blow up one more balloon than people playing and try to hit them back and forth to one another without letting any fall to the floor. 

Recipes for fun

• Make a picnic lunch complete with sandwiches, chips etc pack it in a cooler or basket and have an indoor lunch somewhere other than the dining room or kitchen. 
• Build personal pizzas together with flour tortillas or English muffins for crust and pile on cheese or other favorite toppings. 
• Make ice-cream Sundaes – adding toppings or crumbled cookies, candy, fruit, or other favorites. 
• Make cookies or cupcakes – You can use simple recipes or box mixes. Add to the fun with decorating your sweet treats. Another shortcut is to use colored icing and decorate plain store-bought cookies or graham crackers for a colorful treat.

Outdoors:

Fall/Winter:

• Go for a walk and enjoy fall colors together.
• Gather colorful leaves and either see how many different ones you can get or glue them onto construction paper for beautiful art piece
• Decorate a pumpkin or Jack-O-Lantern 
• Make a Snowperson complete with old clothing items like cap or scarf.
• Build a Snow Fort, a house for dolls or garage for toy cars, trucks, etc.
• Paint the Snow – For this, one can use a small plastic spray bottle filled with water and food coloring. 
• Sledding. You may not want to do go to the nearest hill but if you have a sloping backyard you may have them use that.  Another way to do this on a small scale is to have them build a hill for their dolls to slide down or for their toy cars and trucks to drive down.

Related: Fun Things To Do in the Twin Cities this Winter

Spring/Summer: 

• Plant a bean or starter herb garden together. 
• Explore budding outdoor flowers plants or trees. Older children might find it interesting to see the Fibonacci sequence of numbers in the leafing pattern of plants in nature.
• Water games – Fill clean empty spray bottles and take turns spraying a target. Target can be a tree or a fence post or if you don’t mind getting wet you can be the target.
• Have a picnic lunch outside – Pack sandwiches, a picnic lunch in a cooler or basket and eat outside in a comfortable location in your backyard. Take turns making up stories about where in the world you are on your picnic.
• Go bug hunting – Hunt for small bugs or worms – see how many different ones you can find.
• Pick garden vegetables, flowers, grasses or even weeds that may look interesting in a vase.

Out and About: 

This is where you get to enjoy going to interesting places with the grands. You can take trips to the child’s favorite fast-food restaurants, their beloved indoor trampoline park, playground, or try a few of these other following ideas:

• Take them to a Library or children’s bookstore and checkout or purchase a book to read together. 
• Go online or study the local parent’s magazine to find resources for finding fun things to do around town, like local fairs, festivals, or special events for kids.  You may also see free or low-cost specials at museums, stage plays or other paid events that have reduced prices for kids and seniors.
• Take a trip to the zoo! Compare notes on how many different kinds or monkeys, large cats, or birds you’ve seen. 
• Just drive! Have children count how many different color cars, or if they’re old enough, they can see how many cars are the same make as yours.
• Visit apple orchards or pumpkin farms. Have fun picking apples or tasting some of the sweet treats offered at these locations. You might even get to go on a hayride or other attraction there.
• Tour a popcorn shop or candy store and buy a few interesting treats.
•  Fly a kite – Be sure to steer clear of places with overhead wires or nearby trees.
• Buy helium filled balloons – Attach a fun note and let them fly as far as you can see. Image where they may go and who might find them.

Related: Buying Life Insurance for the Grandkids

This is by no means an exhaustive list of things to do with the grandkids, but I hope it will get you well on your way to having more great times together!

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