Gifts for grandparents: 40 ideas for grandma and grandpa, from the grandkids
Forty gifts for grandma and grandpa, for birthdays, Grandparents Day and brand-new grandparents, from the grandkids' handwriting to a book from the whole family.
40 ideas ·
Grandparents are famously easy to please and hard to buy for. Ask grandma what she'd like and she'll say "just a visit." Ask grandpa and he'll tell you he has everything, and by now he probably does. What they rarely have is proof, in writing, of what they mean to the family.
So the best gifts for grandparents carry something of the grandkids: their handwriting, their drawings, their voices, a story kept before it's forgotten. These 40 ideas are sorted into gifts made of the family's words, gifts for grandma, gifts for grandpa, birthday gifts, Grandparents Day gifts, gifts for brand-new grandparents, and gifts for grandparents who live far away.
Most of them cost very little and take an evening or two. If you'd like help with the words, the free reasons generator turns a few true things about them into ten reasons to start from.
Make it a book: Reasons We Adore You holds fifty reasons, one per page, written from your memories and illustrated to look like your people. Start yours
Gifts made of the family's words
Grandparents rarely hear, in detail, what they mean to everyone. Written down, it's the gift they'll read again and again.
- A book of reasons from the whole family: fifty reasons we adore them, one per page, with the two of them illustrated on the cover.
- A letter from each grandchild about the best day they ever spent with them.
- A jar of folded notes from the grandkids, one to open every week of the year.
- A list of everything they taught you: to ride a bike, to play cards, to make gravy without lumps.
- A notebook of questions about their life for them to fill in and give back, so the family keeps their stories.
- An interview about growing up, recorded by a grandchild and saved for the whole family.
- Your favorite photo of them with the grandkids, framed, with a note on the back about that day.
Gifts for grandma
- A book of what the whole family loves about her, with her name on the cover.
- A necklace or bracelet with a birthstone for every grandchild.
- A cookbook of her own recipes, typed up and printed with photos of the family eating them.
- A planter painted by the grandkids, filled with her favorite flowers.
- A cozy cardigan with a note from each grandchild tucked in the pockets.
- A standing date: lunch with a different grandchild every month.
Gifts for grandpa
- A book of reasons from the grandkids, to keep on the arm of his chair.
- A jigsaw puzzle made from a family photo, to do together on a Sunday afternoon.
- A bird feeder the grandkids built and painted, with a little guide to the birds it brings.
- His stories, recorded over a few visits, with a grandchild asking the questions.
- A pocket knife, tape measure or golf ball marker engraved with the grandkids' names.
- Tickets to a ball game for him and one grandchild, just the two of them.
Birthday gifts for grandma and grandpa
- A book with a reason from every grandchild, ready to open at the birthday breakfast.
- A birthday video from everyone who can't be there, collected on the family group chat.
- Their favorite cake, baked by the grandkids. Lopsided is part of the charm.
- A collage of their life, a photo for each decade, with a few the grandkids have never seen.
- A day out planned around them: the garden center, the beach, or the old neighborhood.
Grandparents Day gifts
In the US, Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day, in September. Small, homemade and personal suits it best.
- A card from each grandchild with one thing they love about them, spelling and all.
- A framed handprint or footprint of the youngest grandchild, with the date.
- Breakfast served by the grandkids, from a menu they wrote and drew themselves.
- A book of reasons from the family. The digital book is ready in minutes, so it works even if you remember on the Saturday.
- A family photo with every grandchild in it, taken on the day.
Gifts for new grandparents
A first grandchild turns two people into grandparents overnight. These mark the moment.
- A framed photo of them holding the baby for the first time, with the date and time underneath.
- A soft blanket to keep at their house, so the baby has one there too.
- A small photo album of the baby for a purse or a wallet, refilled every few months.
- A letter from the baby, written by the new parents, about everything they can't wait to do together.
- A book of reasons from the new parents about why they'll be wonderful grandparents.
For grandparents far away
- A digital photo frame the whole family can send pictures to from their phones.
- A standing video call with the grandkids, with a bedtime story read by grandma or grandpa.
- A postcard from the grandkids every month, with a drawing on the back.
- A box of the grandkids' artwork, mailed at the end of every season.
- A book of reasons they can read between visits, sent as a link and as a printed copy.
- Dates for your next visit, written in a card, with the tickets already booked.
What grandparents really want
Time, mostly, and to know they've mattered. Most grandparents have spent years giving: the babysitting, the lifts, the twenty-dollar bills folded into birthday cards. What they rarely get is the family telling them, in detail, what all that meant.
That's why the gifts they keep tend to be the ones with words and handwriting in them. A cardigan is lovely. A cardigan with a note from each grandchild in the pocket is the one they'll still be wearing in ten years.
If you'd like the family's words to be the gift, Reasons We Adore You puts fifty reasons in a book, one per page, with the two of them illustrated on the cover. The digital book is $12 and the hardcover is $49, and you read every page before you order.
Gathering reasons from cousins, aunts and uncles all over the place? Make it a group book: send one link, and everyone adds their reasons, each signed with their name, from $25. For the holidays, see our Christmas gifts for grandparents, and for a golden anniversary, our 50th anniversary gifts.
Questions people ask
What do grandparents want most as a gift?+
Time with the family, and to know what they mean to everyone. Gifts with the grandkids' words, handwriting or voices in them, like a book of reasons from the whole family, tend to be the ones they keep.
What is a good gift for grandma from the grandkids?+
Something the grandkids made or wrote: a letter from each of them, a planter they painted, a cookbook of her recipes with photos of them eating, or a book of reasons with her name on the cover.
What do you get a grandpa who has everything?+
Something he can't buy: his stories recorded by a grandchild, a puzzle made from a family photo, a ball game with one grandchild, or fifty reasons the family loves him, in a book.
When is Grandparents Day?+
In the US, Grandparents Day is the first Sunday after Labor Day, in September. A card or a book of reasons from the grandkids suits it well, and the digital book is ready in minutes.
