40 Grandmother & Granddaughter Date Ideas

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One of our post popular posts on Sugar, Spice & Glitter is our 40 Mom-Daughter Date Ideas for Every Budget, and I’ve been itching to create a list of grandmother-granddaughter dates, too.

Fun ideas for grandparents to stay active in their grandchildren's lives - for every budget! Awesome ideas for grandparent weekends or Grandparent's Day!

There is a special bond between grandparents and their grandchildren. They care for them as much as they did their own children and often, it can feel like they’re getting to live out the best parts of that parenting thing all over again. Less guilt and responsibility, and more perspective on just how quick childhoods can fly by (and how much you really need to soak them up while you still can).

Being a military child, I didn’t grow up around family members and as a result, I’ve really prioritized that for Ella. She has weekly “dates” with each set of grandparents and also gets a few hours of one-on-one time with my brother (to help add that positive male role model into her life).

Spending quality time with grandparents is great for kids forming secure bonds and learning how to interact with people with a variety of personalities and ages. There’s also research that suggests that children who regularly spend time with their grandparents are less likely to hold stereotypical beliefs and are more empathetic to a wide variety of people – qualities I think we all would love to foster in our children.

Also, having a better understanding of one’s family history (and the people who make up that history) is linked to a decrease in depression, and grandparent involvement is surprisingly a great indicator that kids will do better in school! Plus, what kid couldn’t use more people who love them unconditionally in their lives? (Although, loving blindly might be a better description for grandparents!)

While many of the activities in my original Mom & Daughter Dates post or our Mom Daughter Dates Based on Your Child’s Love Languages post would be great for a grandmother and granddaughter, my mom has a very different personality than me. We have different interests and like doing different things with Ella, so I catered this list more to her liking (plus I wanted to offer as many new suggestions as I could). Be sure to check out both lists for a wide assortment of fun activities to do with kids – no matter your budget. (And who knows! Mom might like the grandmother-grandaughter list better, and grandma might like my “mom-daughter list” better. It’s all personal preference.)

Many of these activities would also be great for uncles/aunts and nieces/nephews, grandfathers and granddaughters, etc. Anyone who is looking for some creative ideas for quality time activities could benefit from these two posts – and please feel free to add your ideas and suggestions to the comments of this post.

I also think it would be special to get a pretty journal that you can record your dates on – and even print out pictures and paste them in! This would be a wonderful keepsake over the years to flip through and remember all of the special moments you’ve shared.

So, without further delay, here are my mom & Ella’s favourite picks for 40 Grandmother-Granddaughter Dates for Every Budget.

(I’ve also added a free printable list at the bottom of this post – so be sure to grab that!)

gardening with grandparents

Free Grandparent Activities

  1. Gardening
  2. Visiting a park
  3. Nature walk or hike
  4. Doll or bear tea party
  5. Nature crafts
  6. Baking – maybe a special family recipe? (Check out our giant assortment of kids’ recipes here.)
  7. Share special memories from your childhood – look through a photo album
  8. Sleepover party
  9. Teach a special skill
  10. A special craft to “keep them little”

 

Grandparent Activities under $10

  1. Swimming at the local pool or splash pad
  2. Hot chocolate at a local bakery
  3. Visit to the book store to pick out a special book (maybe one from the grandparent’s own childhood)
  4. Themed movie night – menu, crafts, and decor surrounding a special movie
  5. Teaching them a classic board or card game
  6. Bring them to one of your “stomping grounds” and show them off – church, golf club, favourite cafe, etc.
  7. Visit an art museum
  8. Spa night or home pedicures
  9. Get together to make a craft for mother’s day or father’s day
  10. Visit a local farm – there’s berry picking, apple orchards, cheese tastings, petting zoos, etc.

40 grandparent dates

Grandparent Activities under $50

  1. A visit to the beach (this may be in another category for you, but for us it’s at least $15 in gas to the beach – plus there’s the obligatory ice cream afterwards)
  2. A night at the movies
  3. Attending a child-friendly theatre performance
  4. Sharing a favourite hobby (maybe setting them up with some starter materials)
  5. Special lunch date
  6. Bowling (I loathe bowling so this works out well for me!)
  7. Make a shadow box from a special event or to celebrate a birthday
  8. Local event – county fair, summer concerts
  9. Concert tickets to a children’s performance (my daughter has been treated to Sharon, Lois & Brahm, the Wiggles twice, and Fred Penner by her grandparents and now when she hears songs by those performers she is reminded of those special days)
  10. Explore a local town, go for a half-day road trip

disney with grandparents

Grandparent Activities under $100

  1. Membership to a local children’s museum
  2. Membership to a monthly craft or activity box, and doing it together
  3. Groupon vacation – sometimes you can get a great deal, my parents have been able to snag Great Wolf Lodge passes
  4. Theme park day
  5. Visit a zoo
  6. Research and donate to a charity in your grandchild’s name
  7. Or, sign your grandchild up for a continuous donation – like a “sponsor a child” program where they will have a pen pal and sustained relationship to charitable giving
  8. Water park day
  9. Special dinner and a movie night out (check out Restaurant.com for special deals)
  10. Be tourists for a day – hit up all of the attractions your grandchild may have missed out on

 

 

What are your favourite grandparent-granddaughter date ideas? Be sure to pin this collection of Grandmother and Granddaughter Activities or send it to a loved one who may need some ideas!

Grab our free printable to keep this list of date ideas on your fridge!

For more awesome activities to do with kids, check out our Homemade Donut Bath Bombs (with instructional video) or our Kid-made Pizza Donuts (with instructional video made by my daughter).

Fun ideas for grandparents to stay active in their grandchildren's lives - for every budget! Awesome ideas for grandparent weekends or Grandparent's Day!  40 Fun Grandmother and Grandchild Date Ideas for every budget, from free ideas to memberships that you can enjoy year-round. Plus free printable list you can check off ideas as you go!   Awesome, budget-friendly ideas to spend quality time with grandparents and grandkids. Plus printable checklist of ideas that you can put on the fridge and check off as you go!  40 Fun Grandmother and Grandchild Date Ideas for every budget, from free ideas to memberships that you can enjoy year-round. Plus free printable list you can check off ideas as you go!

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17 Comments

  1. Sharing this one with the grandmas in my life. My boys love going on adventures with them and these would work great for grandsons too! #client

  2. I love taking my three granddaughters to the less dangerous gem and mineral mines that I consider to be my favorite. Usually the ones with a incredible history and still signs of a railcart or anything else you can look at and then find on internet to show them what it use to look like when a busy active working mine. Then there are mines that you can schedule with your grandchildren a full day of digging in the tailings or paying more and getting right up into the good stuff the mine is known to produce. Royal Peacock mine in Northern Nevada is one I feel is very good to take children to. They can find things you’ll probably meet we in the tailings. I advise if you can to take one at a time. The experience is much more rewarding for both grandchild and grandmother when one on one.

    1. I’m sorry my comment was posted before I had a chance to proof read it.

      My comment was posted with error. Talking about taking younger children to still producing mines in USA I was speaking about the mind Royal Peacock in Nevada. It should have read. ” they will find things you will probably miss” taking through the mines tailings. Tailings are the scraps so to speak of the inside mining that’s pushes out of the mine. Sometimes you’ll find very good treasures out in the tailings. Things happen which cause miners to leave an area suddenly or things get dropped or walls collapse and to gain enterence its excavated and good gems and minerals get tossed out into a heap. Personally I can spend all day going through the tailings. I always come back with many priceless treasures.

  3. Me and my man always used to go for picnics st different venues 1time i chose then another time Nan chose. Venues were just free places such as the canal, the local and sometimes a bit more further a field parks and sometimes just dressed the garden up as a magical fairy land or a scary forest. I loved it and defo would recommend it to young and older granddaughters and grans!!!!

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  5. My husband and I have taken our Grandaughters to plays (Cinderella), painting classes, baseball games. We have decided to create memories instead of buying gifts. I make sure we all take a photo together then I frame it and give it to our Grandchild as a Keepsake of our special day together.

    1. I love that. They will cherish those pictures and memories forever.
      The only gift I still have from my grandma is a ring she gave me on graduation, but I have lots of wonderful memories of her taking me to playgrounds and water parks whenever we’d visit her. Those will always mean more than some fad gift – or even something substantial that children may lose or grow out of.

  6. I love ? the lists. Thanks so much!
    You might think about fixing the grandmother free list
    It says Bgardeningv
    Siting
    Well my phone won’t let me but it’s something you will be happy to fix please.

  7. Oh, I love this, my granddaughter, and I lost her mother my daughter at 33 years old last year… Her father remarried a lady that’s wonderful, but has her own girls… Please, Lord help me to have enough money to go into it get her and to make the special events happen!!
    These are great ideas thank you all and blessings to you and your family and granddaughters and grandsons

    1. Aw, Darleen – thank you so much for your sweet comment.
      I’m so sorry to hear about your daughter, I am so amazed and humbled by your grace and perseverance to be there for your granddaughter. She is so lucky to have you and I hope that this post can give you some inspiration for special moments to have together.

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