Grandmas need a bag of tricks. Grandmas need an arsenal of ideas for
entertaining grandkids and creating memories.
In a prior post, I talked about the importance of planning for creating memories. Sometimes the plans are just not enough and you'll need to come up with some ideas for activities on the fly.
That's when you'll be turning to your bag of tricks.
Things to Have in the Bag of Tricks
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2-3 age-appropriate games the grandkids don't play at home: Dominoes, Checkers, Scrabble
Deck of cards for age-appropriate card games: Go Fish, Crazy Eights,
War, Old Maid, Slap Jack, Rummy. Here are some suggestions for 4-8
year-olds.
Arts and crafts supplies: This is a long list:
Papers:
newsprint, sketch pads, index cards, construction paper, card stock
Pencils, pens, and markers: markers of all kinds and colors, graphite pencils
and colored pencils, ink pens,
glitter pens
Tools: paintbrushes, scissors, rulers, hole punches, paper clips, tape
Miscellaneous: magazines for cutting, buttons, embellishments for gluing,
yarn, string, rope, glitter, rocks, shells
Suggestions for seasonal, age-appropriate activities. This will take some preparation on your part. I compare this to the experience I
had when I was a substitute teacher for grades K-6. I would get a call at 6:00 in the morning asking me to substitute at a specific school for a
specific grade level. I never knew if I would enter the classroom with a fully prepared lesson plan for the day or an empty page staring at me. Too often I found the empty page, so I prepared my own teacher bag of tricks with a full day of activities for each grade level. It saved my day and sanity and it will save yours, too.
Pinterest and Google are great places to start for ideas. Just type in
Search phrases like "craft projects for six-year-olds" or "how to make a
construction paper owl". You can also follow this blog regularly by
signing up for email notifications of new posts over on the top right side of
the page and following our
Facebook page. You'll get ideas like this
fall scavenger hunt,
fall tree, or
backyard tic tac toe.
Use a box with file folders labeled for each month of the year. That way
you can have seasonally specific activities all ready to go.
A library of books for kids is essential. Grandkids of all ages love being read to.
Start reading early and keep it up. Older kids love chapter books. Reading
a chapter book is something you can start when you are together and continue
on video chats until the book is finished.
I love pop-up books when reading to babies and toddlers. They become very engaged with the colorful surprises from page to page. Two of my granddaughter's favorites are
The Very Busy Bee and
The Very Clever Crocodile. This pop-up book series is fun, too.
There are so many wonderful chapter books for kids in grades 1-6. Some of the classic ones to start with are:
It's time to get started gathering the stuff you'll need for your bag of tricks. A well-stocked bag of fun and games makes for happy grandkids and happy grandmas.
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