Gifts for Grandma from all the grandkids

Ask a grandmother what she wants and she will name the grandchildren. Not a thing from them. Them. The best gifts work with that: they put the children in the gift, and they let each child do a real part of it.

We make one of the things below, a portrait of all the grandkids drawn from their photos. The rest are things we do not sell and think are good.

Gifts the children make

1. A book with one page each. Every grandchild fills one page: a drawing, a story, a list titled “Things Grandma says.” Staple it or have it bound. Little ones dictate, older ones write.

2. Handprints, dated. Paint, paper, the date and each name. Do it every year and she ends up with a stack she can lay side by side.

3. A recording. Each child says one thing they love about her into a phone. Join the clips and send her the file, or play it at the table. She will play it more than once.

4. Something they cooked. Her own recipe, made by them, delivered in a tin. Include the photo of the kitchen afterwards.

Gifts with all of them in it

5. All the grandkids in one picture. Getting every cousin into one photo is close to impossible. A drawing of all the grandchildren together does not need them in one place: each family sends one photo of each child and they are drawn in a row, tallest to smallest, holding hands, with every name underneath. It can go on a canvas for the hallway, on a blanket for her chair, or on a mug.

6. A calendar of their year. One photo of each child for their birthday month. It is useful, and it is on the wall for twelve months.

7. A framed set of school photos. This year’s school picture of each one, same size, in one long frame. Swap them out every autumn.

Gifts that are time with them

8. A day with each grandchild. A voucher from each one for a day out with Grandma, just the two of them. Parents handle the driving.

9. A weekly call that the children make. Not the parents. The child dials, the child talks. Same time every week.

10. Letters through the year. Twelve stamped envelopes addressed to her. One child writes each month. Post arriving is half the gift.

And one for her to keep nearby

11. Something soft with their names on it. A blanket or cushion that carries every grandchild’s name is the thing that ends up on her chair. If she already has a wall full of photos, this is the one to pick.

What each age can really do

• Under 3: handprints, scribbles, their voice.
• 3 to 6: drawings, dictated stories, choosing the color of everything.
• 7 to 12: writing their own page, cooking with help, making the phone call.
• Teenagers: editing the video, collecting the photos from the cousins, turning up for the day out.

Give each child one job that is theirs and tell Grandma who did what. That is the part she repeats to her friends.

If the gift is for both grandparents, there are more ideas in gifts for grandparents, and words for the card in what to write in a Christmas card.