Grandparents visiting

Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.

Tish Davidson wrote:

Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.


Get a bunch of pictures together and have them work on a scrapobook or
maybe a calendar for the grandparents to take back with them.

In article
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Tish Davidson wrote:

Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.


are there board games they could play? ours are 5 years apart [not
quite as far apart as yours] but they enjoyed bingo with popcorn and
cokes and the grandparents -- and it is a relaxed informal way to get to
know them

we also went to things like hands on science museums which the
grandparents might never have seen since this is fairly new in the last
30 years or so -- and in any case allows activities of interest for both
age kids

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Tish Davidson wrote:

Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.

I would want to take them separately. That is take the 5 yo to the
park or the zoo and take the 12 yo to a sports event or something of
that type. Not both of them together unless there is someplace they
go with you to places together and both enjoy it.

If you were going to take them to the fair, for instance (as we often
take our children and grandchildren to the Oyster Festival and my mom
had everyone to Orlando), we are a family group and the parents have
charge of their children, and we kind of watch and help out. My dd#2
have gone with us to a Christmas Enchanted Forest type place with
rides, and we buy our own food, and they buy the grandchildren's food.
And I go on some of the rides with some of the children where the
parents aren't able or don't want to go and I do. And dh watches the
children that are too little while the rest of us go on the rides.
YMMV in this respect.

We take the grandchildren separately at our house or sometimes similar
age/sex ones two at a time.

grandma Rosalie

"Tish Davidson" wrote in message
...
Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.

A couple questions: parents along or not? how long is the visit? do the
two children share any interests? do either or both of the children have
interests similar to any of the grandparental interests? what do the kids
usually like to do and what do the grandparents usually like to do [there
may be some things in the ordinary hum drum routines that would fit well
with many or all parties]. are the grandparents in a different kind of area
than the gchildren and they could share some of that area [tourists!] with
the grand's?

My first gut is to separate the children for some activities as their
interests probably don't widely overlap. Malls, however, often appeal to
both, so a mall walk can be fun and not too taxing for most. Walking in the
woods or fields may be equally interesting and fun, particularly if the
older child enjoys the out of doors. Going to a park where there is lots of
play apparatus and probably other children is good, as is the old Dairy
Cream visit. Sharing a favorite Video is fun. Uno is a game that all ages
can enjoy and five year olds are old enough to catch onto quickly. Tell the
older child to bring along a good book and the younger child to bring a
favorite toy. Tell them to expect that they will be amusing themselves at
times, just like at home. Do neighbors [are there neighbors?] have children
of similar ages? Arranged meetings might work, particularly if there are
known shared interests like skate boarding, yugio, etc., prior to putting it
to the older child. I always had friends near my grandparents' homes who I
only got to visit then. Looking at family slides, albums, 8mm movies, etc.,
usually telling stories about the parents veg . A matinee, splitting the
two between shows with separate grandparents. Long rides to look at
scenery, go to the beach/ocean/ski lodge, whatever. Cooking diner together,
walking the dog for grandma, walks around the neighborhood if there is one,
catching an excursion train if there is one [steam? avail?] zoo, hands on
science center, planetarium shows, smushing pennies on the train track,
seeing other relatives in a big get-to-gether. The five year old will
probably be easier than the 12 year old, depending on the twelve year old's
degree of moodiness from racing hormones and such. Good luck!

-Aula

Stamp collecting and coin collecting.

After they leave, they can use instant messenging to stay in touch. And they
can send stamps and coins back and forth (using snail mail of course).


"Tish Davidson" wrote in message
...
Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s c an do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy? These kids
don't see their grandparents very often and don't know they well. The
GPs are not doddering, but not physically energetic either.

Tish Davidson wrote:

Can anyone give me some good ideas of activities grandparents in their
70s can do with a 5 year old girl and a 12 year old boy?

When Grandpa visits here, he spends most of his time reading,
watching the golf channel, or napping. To accomodate him we
try to provide SHORT activities with the kids that offer him
lots of easy opportunities to get away if he needs to.

Card games are good, but Go Fish and War get real tiring real
fast. Games like 31 or 99 are good for a 12-year-old (math
skills, too), and these games require enough thought to keep
adults playing along, too. I found a different sort of Go
Fish game called Eye of Horus that all of us -- kids, parents,
and grandparents -- enjoyed playing. Grandpa played lots of
hands of this last time he was here. I got ripped for $16
when I bought it at a game shop, but you can find it here a
lot cheaper:

http://www.kumquat.com/cgi-kumquat/funagain/13664

Good luck. Just keep an eye on the grandparents for signs of
"child fatigue," and offer them an easy escape if they need one.