Bake a cake:
There is nothing quite as fun messing up the kitchen in the company of grandchildren – and hopefully managing to get their parents to clean up later! Baking a cake is a timeless activity that allows you to teach your grandchildren some kitchen skills, as well as have fun working together on an activity that can end with an edible, and possibly delicious, result! The fun of measuring and mixing ingredients, the setting of the cake, the anticipation and endless peeking through the oven window, the excitement of the baking cakes smell wafting through the house, and finally the proud presentation of the end product to the rest of the family as the result of the grandparent grandchildren enterprise is shared over tea makes for a priceless activity with your grandchildren.
Read a story:
On snowy winter days, or chilly winters evenings, pull out those old books, or if you are a more tech savvy grandparent, your Kindle and read an old fashioned fairy tale or story to your grandchildren. You can plan the occasion the previous day if you like to build up the anticipation, and if your grandchildren are with you for a few days, you could even select a longer story and break it into say three parts so there is more excitement at the start of every reading. Reading is a great way to engage children's imagination, and a good story - whether read from a book/Kindle, or told by you, can fire up a young imagination, and make for a warm intimate occasion to be shared with grandchildren. Light a fire in the fireplace and gather them around, perhaps a hot chocolate break in the middle of the story, or perhaps even some popcorn. Its a great way to spend quality time with grandchildren, and most grandchildren love hearing a story told or read by their grandparent!
Walk in the park:
Put on your cold weather gear, make an occasion of it, clown around a bit in your warm woolly hat, help them get dressed in their warmest winter gear, and once set, head out to the park. Winter may not be the best time to go to the park, but whether it be snowy or just a bit bleak, it doesn't matter. Sometimes just getting out of the house can be fun. Make an adventure out of it. Plan a route with them, make it out to be a hunt for the elusive (and entire fictitious!) Giant-winter-park rabbit! Examine possible leads during the walk, investigate, feed their imagination...and once you get home, possibly after having been led on a wild Giant-winter-park-rabbit chase....feed their hungry bellies as well, hot cocoa perhaps, and possibly some of that leftover cake from the one you guys baked earlier!
Go on a sleigh ride:
It’s winter. Chances are there will be snow somewhere around either at your doorstep, or not very far from where you live. Organize a Sleigh ride! Maybe Rudolph is a resting after his Christmas exertions, but it may be possible to get a horse drawn ride somewhere. Nothing quite as magical as gliding and bumping over snow, drawn along on a sleigh, wrapped up in warm warm blankets/furs, and discussing the merits of sleigh over airplanes with your grandchildren, as you slide across a winters landscape. Maybe carry a few apples to feed the horse/reindeer later! If no horse/reindeer powered rides are available, you can innovate.....nothing delights children as much as a sleigh drawn by their parents dressed as reindeer! You can make it happen...and hopefully your children will forgive you the indignity inflicted by next winter J...your grandchildren will of course be laughing with delight all the way with you!
Help build a snowman/woman
It's winter, again the assumption is that you live amongst snowy landscapes or are a reasonable distance from that powdery stuff. So a timeless event associated with snow is snowmen/women! Collect your gear, the snow shovels, buckets, facial feature elements like carrots for the nose etc, and of course your warm and well-dressed-for-cold-weather grandchildren! Do not forget to dress appropriately for the cold yourself...often, in the company of little children, one tends to forget one is not as sprightly as them, and the fact that you probably require more careful dressing than the little ones!
Once kitted out, head out to the snow and select an appropriate and safe area to begin your joint venture. As a senior citizen, you’ll probably be in charge of directing the process, but if you can, it can be lots of fun to actually do some of the construction. Especially fun will be assisting the grandchildren stick in the arms and the facial features.....and for the grand finale, a selfie with you and the grandchildren and your snowperson..for the family album!
Watch a cartoon or a children’s movie
Jungle Book or Bambi may be a bit dated for most children nowadays as far as animation goes, some old classics such as ET still hold their own with a young audience. Your choice of film will depend on the age and the preferences of your grandchildren, but ideally will be a film that you yourself may have watched and enjoyed – or at least think your grandchildren would enjoy. Even going to the theatre for a new release childrens movie can be fun, but ideally it would be a family occasion at home where you and your grandkids would sink into the sofa, dim the lights, and watch a film, with homemade popcorn and warm drinks from your very own kitchen. Its not a very active activity, but can be a relaxing and very enjoyable afternoon or evening spend in the comfort of your home.
Build a birdhouse
A project requiring the cutting and assembly of woodwork needs to be carefully supervised but if executed under careful supervision, can result in a lasting creation that you and your grandchild can be proud of. It is not even necessary to actually cut and shape wood to make birdhouses and kits can be bought that only require assembly. Either ways, the making of a birdhouse can be a simple but fulfilling task that you can undertake with your grandchildren, and once placed in an appropriate location, can provide many subsequent hours of entertainment in the monitoring and care of birds that may take up residence in your and your grandchild creation!
Play a video game
Instead of teaching your grandchildren what you know better than them, a great way to spend time with the little ones is to learn a little bit about their world, and video games is very much a part of their world. Select a game that you know they play and enjoy, then if you have the time and don't want to test their patience too much, take the time to learn and practice the basics on your own. Then you can ask your grandchildren to teach you how to play and with their lessons, and from what you have secretly already learned before, you can challenge them to a game (if it is a competition one!), or just indulge in the digital world of videogames and let your grandchildren be your guides and mentors for a change!
Put together a play for the rest of the family
Select a short story that can be enacted, or better still, write one together with your grandchildren. Practice the lines and scenes, and now, if you want to have more fun with the story, make props and create costumes. How much work you put into it is not important, it's how much fun you and your grandchildren have fun doing it! Move furniture, create lighting and a stage using sheets if you like, let their imagination and creativity run wild! In the evening, perhaps some time after dinner, you and your troop can put on a show for the rest of the family. Call a few neighbors if you like! Remember to appoint someone as a prompter...both young and old can often forget their lines!
Help with Homework Assignments
Ever so often children come home with an assignment from school and most of the time it is the parents that help out where required. Take over that role from your children and help your grandchildren with their assignments and projects occasionally. This can prove to be a learning experience for both of you in some cases and in many others, they will find your inputs and insights interesting. It’s a great way to spend unhurried time with your grandchildren and it even helps them improve their grades.
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