20 of the Best Ways to Entertain Grandchildren

If you are like me, getting to visit with our grandkids without their parents, all by ourselves, is the highlight of our week or even our year!

But then, as you begin to think about that time and what you need to do to entertain them, you may want to panic.

But no need to panic! I have some fool-proof ideas that even your stubbornness grandchild can’t resist. I’ve come up with different ways of entertaining your grandkids for outside as well as inside your home.

10 of the Best Outside Ideas

If it’s a beautiful day and you have your grandchildren before it gets dark, go outside! There is so much to do there and children love to be outside.
Take a nature walk and collect items (smooth rocks, a wildflower, pinecone, or bird feather) to show their parents later. You can do this even with a child in a stroller. Remember to carry a paper bag or basket to collect the items.
Bring sidewalk chalk with you and let them draw on their sidewalk or driveway.
Plan a picnic in the backyard or the park. Remember to bring a blanket to sit on, their favorite things to eat, and all the necessities if you have a baby. Also bring some books or toys to play with.
If there is a park close by, walk or drive to it and remember to bring bubbles to blow.
Or better yet, go to a play park with swings, slides, etc.
We love to put the top down on our car and drive to an ice cream shop or even a place for dinner.
Bike together! We only have one granddaughter so it’s easy to keep a bike for her so whenever she is here, we bike around the neighborhood together.
If you have a creek nearby, wade in it and look for salamanders or turtles! Or turn on the garden hose and let the toddlers play with the water by filling small buckets.
Go swimming if they like to swim.

10 of the Best Inside Ideas

If the weather is bad or it’s a nighttime visit with your grandchildren, bake with them! Children love to bake and perhaps you could make something to share with a needy family, a neighbor or even the local fire station. Taking baked goods to a station is a great way for the grandkids to visit one and learn about what a firefighter does.
Have a tea party! My granddaughter still loves a tea party where she helps me make the tea, puts treats on a small china platter, and helps set it up in our family room.
If you have grandsons, get on floor with them and play with their trucks, cars, trains, etc. They could do that for hours!
One of our favorite activities is to make a tent or lots of tents in the family room. Just get a large blanket or bedspread, pull together some chairs in a circle, and cover the chairs with the coverlet. The kids can put lamps or flashlights inside, small tables, their stuffed animals and books, or even their favorite toys. For older kids, let them put their sleeping bags inside and they can spend the night! Our granddaughter does this at our annual beach vacation. She even gets the dog to go in and makes him stay on one of the chairs!
Crafts are also a great way to spend time with your grandchildren. Ask their parents what they like to do in that area and find age appropriate crafts to do: perhaps plain paper and colored pencils or crayons and draw and color together; teach them how to sew, knit, or embroider; put out some acrylic paints and paint together (acrylics are waterproof and easier to use for a beginner than oil. I also wouldn’t use watercolors because it’s hard to get strong enough colors for a child’s interest); get modeling clay or play dough to play with; and of course, play board games.
For your older grandchildren, help them write a story! Perhaps a children’s book or a chapter book. You could even have the final version put into a bound book. Our library just purchased a machine that can put a book together in just a few minutes!
My favorite activity of all is to read to them. I love reading children’s books! You could even put a trip to the library as an activity and let them pick the books they want you to read to them or books they want to read themselves. While there, check and see all the upcoming events they have for children and perhaps you could bring them back. A library is a treasure trove!
Again, for older grandchildren, perhaps you could help them with a homework assignment or school project. I remember my grandfather helping me so much with my math homework and I appreciated his help so much.
Of course, the very best babysitting activity on a cold, dark night is to make popcorn and hot chocolate and watch a great movie! Ask their parents what movies they are allowed to watch and then see if you could get the DVD or watch it from a site they may have like Netflix or Amazon.
And the best way to end your time with them? Sometimes just tucking them in bed after a story, giving them a gentle back rub and letting them talk. Just listen. You really don’t have to say much except that you are always there for them. If they ask, share stories when you were a child. And, perhaps, share how you came to know the Lord and how He has been with you all your life. And of course, pray over them, asking them what they would want you to pray for them.

Children’s children are a crown to the aged. Proverbs 17:6

Lane P. Jordan is a best-selling author, writer, international motivational and inspirational speaker, singer, artist, Bible teacher, and professional life coach. She lives in Frisco, Texas with her husband who partners with her in ministryand waits impatiently for daughters and granddaughter to visit! Lane’s desire is to encourage, support, and motivate women of all ages to be better wives, mothers, and women of God by organizing their lives and time. You can find her at: www.LaneJordanMinistries.com and her blog at www.PathwaysToOrganization.com.