Grandparents/Visitors Day is a fun time for children to bring in older family members or family friends. It is an event many families look forward to every year, but can also be stressful for teachers, or for children who do not have a special guest. And of course, many children will refer to older family friends as “Grandma/Grandpa” if a biological grandparent is not a part of their lives. It can also be a difficult day for children who have recently (or not-so-recently) lost a grandparent. One option is for them to do an art or writing project that is a memorial to a deceased grandparent.

Here are some ideas for making the best out of this day.

Depending on your school community, you may have a small or large turnout. Some children may have four grandparents who all want to come, some may not have any special person who is available, and some may have a grandparent who is bouncing between three different grandchildren’s classrooms on the same day, so can only come for a portion of the event. Prepare something fun for the students who do not have a visitor to do that is engaging, but definitely not work. Have them make something they can give to a special person in their life at a later time.

Gifts

The day before (or earlier), have students make a gift to hand to their visitor on Grandparents Day, or to take home to give to a special person.

• A hand-drawn picture
• A letter of gratitude
• A special art project
• Samples of classwork in a memory book
• A shadow box with a photo of the child
• A shadow box with a note from the child

Ask your class parent to organize some snacks to serve to visitors.

Have a banner or slide up on your screen to welcome visitors.

Have students help decorate the room ahead of time with their own hand-made decorations from colored paper. It won’t look at all professional which is just what your visitors will enjoy.

Have children and their visitors make a craft together.

• Both the child and grandparent draw a portrait of each other which can be glued onto a ledger size colored paper and folded as a memory card
• Have them complete a 25-piece puzzle together if you have several
• Paint the grandparent’s hand and place it on a paper. After it has dried, paint the grandchild’s hand and make a print on top.
• Have the grandparent and child trace and cut out their hands to glue onto a card on top of each other.
• Give them magazines, stickers, and other small objects to make a scrapbook page or shadow box filled with things they do together or have in common

Have students interview their grandparent or visitor.

Play a fun game as a whole class. This is a good way to make students who do not have a visitor feel included. It can be a board game that can be adapted for a large group (Last Word, and In a Pickle are two examples), a group party game (like charades) or a whiteboard game like hangman, team tic-tac-toe, or Pictionary).

Here is a fun game to play. Have grandparents write two things that are true about life when they were their grandchild’s age. Write one thing that is false. Cut them out and mix them up. See if the class can guess which one is made up!

Print this template onto color cardstock, cut, and tape a bobby pin to the back to make visitors and children feel special:

Sending home a parting gift? Attach these cards to them:

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