5 Ways to Celebrate Grandparents Day This Sunday

This Sunday, Sept. 8, is National Grandparents Day in the United States. Do something to honor your grandparents—and if you are a grandparent, to honor your bond with your grandchildren.

Here are a few National Grandparents Day ideas:

1. Pass down old family stories to your grandchild.

You could fill a notebook, record yourself talking, or fill in a book of prompts such as Stories From My Grandparent.

For ideas on how to make family history engaging for the younger members of your family, consider doing an activity or project together.

2. Have your children interview their grandparents.

Grandparent’s day is the perfect opportunity to learn more about a grandparent’s life and record their story for future generations. Here are some helpful tips and questions for the kids, or you can interview your own grandparent, if you’re lucky enough to still have him or her in your life.

3. Learn more about your grandparent’s world.

You might know a lot about the lives of your own grandparents, a relatively recent generation, genealogically speaking. Even so, you could focus on fleshing out what you know with newspaper research and local histories, and/or sum up your research and your memories about your grandparent in an essay.

4. Get cooking!

Recreate a favorite recipe from Grandma or great-grandma. You also could record their recipes on decorative recipe cards or in a book such as From the Family Kitchen.

5. Make a “generations” photo keepsake.

Create a “generations” photo like this one, with a member of your family’s oldest generation holding a photo of his or her child, who’s holding a photo of his or her child. In most cases, the photo is “faked”: You take a picture of each person holding an empty frame, then use photo-editing software to add a picture into the frame. Lots of tutorials are available online; here’s one.

How will you celebrate Grandparents’ Day?

Last updated: September 4, 2019