50 Things To Do With Your Grandchildren This Summer

Do your grandchildren spend all their time on devices when they come to visit? Do you wish you could “connect” with them? This article provides a list of fifty free or inexpensive things you can do with your grandchildren that will help them forget about technology and enjoy time spent with you.

Kids Are Too Connected

It seems every child is plugged in now-a-days. They have online games, internet searches, texting with friends . . . the list goes on and on. When they come to visit you, they sit on the couch, plant their cute little faces in devices and drown out everything going on around them.

To be honest, their parents aren’t much better, are they? They are on Facebook, texting friends, doing everything but connecting with you. What happened to your kids?

How Do You Get Them to Disconnect?

Do you wish for a time when things were simpler? Maybe you remember the time you spent with your grandparents and wish you could make the same type of connection you remember so well. Memories flood in . . . time with just you and your grandma making a pie or grandpa teaching you to fish at the creek.

How can you get your grandkids interested in things like that – things that make memories?

Oh, and what can we do with them that doesn’t cost an arm and a leg. Remember, we’re retired.

Setting Expectations

How do you set expectations with your grandchildren and even with your children when they drop the “grands” off at your house for the day or week or month?

Before they come to visit, you should have a conversation about devices usage. First of all, do you have internet access at your house? If you do, you can set expectations with them regarding devices . . . when, during the day/evening can they use their devices and for how long?

If you don’t have internet service, although most people do (unless you live in a remote area where it is not available), you need to let everyone know that you don’t have it.

In that case, the grandchildren need to have a list of their friends’ phone numbers printed out on a piece of paper so they can call using your house phone – if you have one. Set a specific time with them when they can call a friend. You’ll probably have to set a limit on how long they can talk.

Before they arrive

The most important thing to do before your grandchildren arrive is to make a list of things you would like to do with them. Of course, this depends a lot on their ages. What you plan for toddlers and grade school kiddos is a lot different from middle school and high school age.

The second thing is to forget your current age. Think about when you were younger, perhaps the age of your grandchildren. What did you like to do? Did you enjoy going to your grandparents’ house? If so, what made it so enjoyable? My guess is your grandparents were willing to jump into the creek with you, get dirty, roll in the grass, make a mess. Are you willing to forget your age? If so, you will enjoy some of the things on the list as much as the children will.

So let’s get started!

For the youngest grandchildren

1. If your grandchildren are very young – infant or crawling, don’t be afraid to get down on the floor and play with them (as long as you can get back up again). Put a quilt on the floor and put them on their stomach and let them crawl. Spread out colorful toys so they can see them and move from one to another. They love to share their toys with you.
2. Cuddle with them – they love your touch. Sing to them – they love your voice (no matter how YOU think you sound, they think you are perfect). 🙂
3. When you put them down for their nap, you might want to take a little nap yourself. You’ll awake refreshed and ready to spend more time with your grandbaby.
4. Take lots of pictures. Take selfies with your grandbabies. As they grow older, they will love seeing how cute they were as a baby or toddler.

For Toddlers

1. Hold hands and walk around your house. It’s all new territory to them. Name items as you stop at each one: table, chair, flowers, window. They’ve seen those things at their home, but perhaps never here. It will expand their minds as they equate your table to the one at home.
2. Take them outside and walk around your house. Show them trees, flowers, birds. Listen for bird songs, frogs, crickets. They love the discovery age.

Ages 5 – pre-teens

This age is one of the most fun. They love DOING. Doing anything! Make sure you are well-rested before they come. And remember, you don’t have to do everything and certainly not everything in one day. Pace yourselves. Rest when you need to. But most of all, live in the moment and enjoy it.

1. Go on a nature walk. This is similar to taking them outside your house and showing them things when they were toddlers. Now, you can take binoculars and look for specific birds or insects. Take them to a hiking area, or just down to the creek beside your house. As they get older, they can keep a small notebook and write down all the new things they noticed.
2. Put a quilt on the ground, lie on your backs and watch clouds go by. What animals do they look like? Where did the clouds come from?
3. Build a birdhouse. Put it in a tree close to your house. They’ll check for birds every time they come to visit.
4. Set up a lemonade stand. What crazy flavors can you come up with – that taste good?
5. Make popsicles with the leftover kool-aid or lemonade from your stand. 🙂
6. Go on a picnic in your back yard. Spread a blanket, make some sandwiches and have fun
7. Make up a story together, taking turns. Who can keep it going? How crazy will your story get?
8. Fold paper airplanes and have a contest – whose goes the farthest?
9. Put on your bathing suits and run through the sprinkler.
10. Teach your grandchild a craft you learned to do when you were his/her age.
11. Plant flowers or vegetables in your garden.
12. Pick flowers or vegetables from your garden.
13. Fly a kite.
14. Shoot off fireworks (if they are legal in your area). Go watch fireworks together. Light sparklers.
15. Do face painting on each other.
16. Go to a drive-in movie if there are any in your area. If not, get a projector, hang a sheet from your back porch and play old movies on the projector.
17. Make jewelry – friendship bracelets or any other kind they would enjoy.
18. Go camping – even if it’s in your own back yard.
19. Make s’mores. You can use a firepit, a grill, even your stove.
20. Blow bubbles.
21. Play marbles – teach your grandchild how to play.
22. Ride a carousel.
23. Visit the zoo.
24. Go fishing.
25. Skim pebbles across the pond/stream/lake.
26. Collect fireflies.
27. Write a short story together.
28. Have a sing-along.
29. Find a county fair and see/do as much as you can. What was the most interesting thing?
30. Go for a scenic drive. Point out the landmarks as you go. Have your grandchild make up a story about an interesting house – who lives there, what happened there?
31. Paint a portrait of each other. How silly do they look?

Teens

1. Ride bikes together.
2. Make homemade ice cream.
3. Go on a picnic to a park in your neighborhood or in your city. Take a frisbee to throw after you eat.
4. Take the dogs for a walk together. If you neighborhood park allows dogs to be leash-free, play catch with the dogs, throwing the ball or frisbee back and forth.
5. Take pictures of each other. Take selfies together.
6. Go bowling.
7. Visit some garage sales. Anything of interest?
8. Watch a sunset . . . and a sunrise together.
9. Start a scrapbook of all the things you did together. Add to it each year.
10. Go swimming – at the local pool, in the creek or lake close to your house.
11. Wash your car. Wear your swimsuits. Plan to get wet.
12. Have a barbecue in your backyard. Light the grill and make your entire dinner on the grill. How creative can you be?
13. Play miniature golf.

Laugh. Have fun. Make memories.

If you found this list helpful, leave me a comment below.

If you would like to receive notification of new articles as they are published, please sign up for my newsletter in the form below.