Are you looking for ideas of things that you can do to celebrate a grandchild’s birthday? Why not have an Olympic event? Invite all of your grandchildren to participate – or invite the grandchild’s family, or have just the two of you if others are not able to attend. Be sure to make appropriate adjustments for age and size differences. The purpose here is to have fun – not to discover an Olympic contender for the next games. You could do this activity out of doors or adapt activities to be played inside.

Here’s a list of activities that you could do.

Discus. Have a paper plate or a lid from a frozen whipped topping container. Give each contestant 3 tries to throw the ‘discus.’ Mark the longest throw. The one who throws the farthest is the winner.

200 meter run. Mark a short distance. Each contestant runs backwards the entire length. The one who does it in the shortest time is the winner.

Shot put. Blow up a large balloon. Contestants throw the balloon. The one who throws it the farthest is the winner.

Javelin throw. Each contestant throws a straw. The one who throws it the farthest is the winner.

Broad jump. Mark a line for contestants to stand behind. Each contestant will stand on one leg behind the line and make one hop. The one who hopped the farthest is the winner.

100 meter relay. (This will only work if you have a group.) Divide contestants into teams. Give each contestant a straw. Each team is given a Life Saver candy. When someone says ‘go,’ the first team member will put his straw in his mouth and put the Life Saver over his straw. He will turn to the player next to him and slide the Life Saver from his own straw to the next contestant’s straw. Contestants will pass the Life Safer from straw to straw until it gets to the last team member. The team that gets it on the last team member’s straw first is the winner.

Diving. Get 4 small buckets or pails. Fill them half full of water and place them 3-4 feet apart from each other. Each contestant will run to the first bucket and jump up and down one time inside the bucket. Then, he will continue doing this until he has jumped in all of the buckets. The player that does this in the shortest amount of time is the winner.

Hurdles. Get 5-6 boxes of varying heights (making sure they are not too high for your grandchild to jump over). Put them about 4 feet apart. Each contestant begins at a starting line and runs to the finish line jumping over each box as he goes. The one who finishes in the shortest amount of time is the winner.

Pole vault. Set up an a-frame ladder. Get a small beanbag. Have contestants stand 3-4 feet way from the ladder. Contestants will take turns throwing the beanbag over the ladder. The one who throws it the farthest is the winner.

Long jump. Mark a starting line. Each contestant stands at the line. Then, the contestant makes a standing jump. The one who can jump the farthest wins.

Swimming. Get a tub of water, a ping pong ball, and a spoon. When someone says ‘go,’ the contestant will put the ping pong ball in the water. Using the spoon to splash water up on the ping pong ball , the contestant will move the ball from one edge of the tub to the other. The one who does it in the fastest time is the winner.

Each contestant gets one point for winning an event. At the end, the one who has the most points is the gold medal winner. The one who has the second highest number of points wins the silver medal. The one who has the third highest points wins the bronze.

You may be able to find ‘play’ Olympic medals at a party supply store. Or, you could go to a dollar store to buy inexpensive prizes/toys to give to the winners. Or you could give the gold medal winner a 100,000 Grand candy bar, Smarties candy to the silver medalist, and Runt candies to the bronze medal winner. If it is just you and your grandchild, maybe you could have a cake frosted with a gold medal design on it and serve it with ice cream.

(Remember the golden birthday idea? You could do this on your grandchild’s golden birthday.)

Have a grand time!
Digi-Gram

Before we had children, I heard about the idea of a child having a golden birthday. A golden birthday was when a person turned the chronological age that matched the numerical day that he was born on.

For example, our son Kevin was born on July 12. (He’s birthday is right around the corner. . .) So, his golden birthday was the year that he turned twelve years old.

The idea of having a golden birthday is to do something a little bit extra special for that birthday.

Golden Birthday Ideas

• The evening before the golden birthday, blow up balloons and put them in the grandchild’s bedroom. Twist two different colors of crepe paper together and make streamers that go from one corner diagonally to the other corner. (Obviously, this idea only works if you live close enough to your grandchild so you can go to her home to do this. And, the trick is to do it without waking up your sleeping grandchild. That way, she will be surprised in the morning.)
• Take your grandchild out for dinner — just you, grandpa, and the grandchild — to a nice restaurant (not the Arby’s style). Dress up in nice clothes to make it even more special.
• Take your grandchild to a special event that he would enjoy (e.g. a football, basketball, or baseball game; a funny play; an art show; an ice hockey game; a melodrama, a jazz performance). Make sure that you know your grandchild would enjoy the event. Nothing worse than taking a grandson to a Broadway play that bores him to tears.
• Make an extra special cake — or order one from the bakery or get an ice cream cake from Baskin Robbins.
• Buy a special gift that helps your grandchild remember his/her golden birthday (e.g. a charm bracelet and a charm with the date on it; a special book that you write in the front to tell him how special he is to you).
• Give your grandchild a ‘mini’ adventure birthday — a ride down an alpine slide, a ride on a zip line, a hot air balloon ride, a sky diving experience (if your grandchild is old enough and courageous enough!).
• Have your portrait taken together and give your grandchild a nicely framed copy of the picture.
• Go on a two day mini-vacation to a destination not too far away. This could be going camping over night or staying in a motel. Maybe having your grandchild help plan the mini-vacation would ensure that you would do something that he would enjoy.

In a more serious vein, you could do something that would focus on others rather than on ’self.’ You could serve a meal at a homeless shelter; do a community service project; sing songs at a nursing home; promote recycling in your neighborhood; help the Habitat for Humanity organization; write thank you letters to people who have been a good influence in your life; go to a local hospital and do something to cheer up the children in the pediatrics ward.

Make sure you fit your activities to the age and interests of your grandchild and to your time and your financial resources. Refer back to the posts about having a tea party and having a special red plate for more ideas.

If any of you have ideas of what you could do for a golden birthday, please leave a comment here and share your ideas!!

Happy celebrating!
Digi-Gram

One of my friends is an English teacher. (Actually, I have MANY friends that are English teachers!!) But this particular one shared with me what she does when a grandchild has a birthday.

On their birthday, she takes them to the local bookstore. They browse through the age appropriate books and then (under her wise guidance and tutelage) she lets them select 5 books. After she purchases the books, they head out to a local eatery of the grandchild’s choice and have lunch. Just the two of them. What a great way to celebrate a birthday!

The other day I read that the week before Thanksgiving is National Children’s Book Week. What a great time to share this birthday idea and to encourage grandparents everywhere to find ways to instill a love of books and a love for reading with their grandchildren.

I read Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech to our kids as we were driving home from a vacation. (It was the Newbery Medal winner in 1995.) We still had several pages left to read when we pulled into the garage. We scurried out of the car to the patio so that I could finish reading the book to the kids. When we were finished, we went back to the car and started unloading it.

Walk Two Moons is a story about thirteen-year-old Salamanca Tree Hiddle whose mother has disappeared. Sal sets across the United States with her Grams and Gramps in an effort to find her mother. She entertains her grandparents with stories of her friend, Phoebe, who sees “lunatics” around every corner. During this pilgrimage, everyone’s “story” is told — stories that are humorous and poignant.

This would be a great gift to give a pre-adolescent girl. It would be a great book to read to a granddaughter as she stayed overnight on a week-end. It would be a great book to discuss with a granddaughter. It’s just plain down and out a great book! (You know, my sons enjoyed the book just as much as my daughter did. So don’t hesitate to share it with boys, too.)

If you have any ideas about celebrating a grandchild’s birthday, please feel free to share it here!

Digi-Gram