Do your grandchildren love stuffed animals?  If so, here’s a fun idea of a little something that you could make and give to a grandchild.

Now, I’m assuming that you can sew a simple straight line.  Nothing fancy.  Just plain straight stitching.  Can you do that?  Good.

The idea is to sew a pocket on a pillowcase where a small stuffed animal can ‘sleep’ while your grandchild sleeps.

Get a pillowcase and sew some matching material on the open end to extend it in length.  On the extension, sew on a pocket in a contrasting fabric pattern that is big enough to hold a small stuffed animal.

Here’s a picture to show you what the finished pillowcase will look like.

You can give the stuffed animal and pillowcase to a grandchild as a birthday present, a Christmas present, a Buzzard’s Day present (yes, folks, that’s a real holiday — on March 15), or a just-because-I-love-you present.

If your grandchild is old enough (I’d say around eight years old or so), you could spend time together picking out material and sewing the pillowcase pocket.

Then, you can have a sleepover party with your grandchild, her pocket pal, you, and Grandpa — as long as Grandpa doesn’t snore too bad!

Ever heard about cake pops?? Supposedly, the idea has been circulating out and about the Internet for the past year.  I just learned about them. (My kids tell me all the time that I am S-L-O-W . . .)  These are pictures that Bakerella has taken of her divine creations.  Aren’t these pops just the cat’s meow?

Bakerella has got to be one of the most creative cake pop creators in the universe.  She has also made the cutest ever reindeer pops,  wedding cake pops, rabbit pops, spring chick pops, turkey pops, and voting pops. Why just this very day in honor of Sesame Street’s 40th anniversary, she has shared her Elmo (and friends) cake pops.  Boy howdy!  If you made these for a grandchild’s birthday celebration, you’d be his most-est favorite grandma ever.  I think I’m going to have to retire right now to spend all of my time (trying) to make these fun cake pops — and then eating them.  (I’m sure grandpa would help me out — especially the eating part.)

(We pause here for a commercial break:  You’ve got to check out those little gobbling turkey pops.  Fun, fun fun!!  They would be a hoot to make around Thanksgiving time with your grandchildren.  But, they call for the brown version of candy corn.  Last year when I was looking for some around Thanksgiving, I had a hard time finding any.  So, you might want to start checking out your local stores now so that you will have it on hand for when you need it.  We return you now to our regular scheduled program.)

I’m giving our daughter-in-law a baby shower this Saturday and I’m going to attempt the smiley face cake pops.  They seem to be fairly simple.  Something that I could manage.  Wish me luck . . .

Making cake pops would be a delightful activity to do with grandchildren.  Wouldn’t it be fun for you and your grandchildren to come up with your own designs that you could make together?  Kitchen krafts.  What a yummy idea.  Even if they didn’t turn out as elegant as Bakerella’s, I’m sure they would still be edible.

Maybe it’s a good thing that the New Year is just around the corner so that I can set a goal of losing all of the weight that I have gained just LOOKING at these cake pops . . .

Yesterday on the bus, the lady who sat by me shared what she was doing this week with a grandchild.  She and her husband were doing an ‘Eleven is Heaven’ activity with a grandson.

To celebrate his birthday, this grandson came to stay with his grandparents for a whole week.  They had a myriad of activities (based on the grandson’s interests) all planned out to do.  Since his career goal was being a 3D animator, Grandma was taking him to the animation department on the campus where we work.  He also enjoys the theater so they are going to a local theater’s production of Singing in the Rain.  (My husband and I have seen it and it is fabulous!)

Her goal was to spend one-on-one with this grandson.  Just grandma, grandpa, and him.  No other grandchildren around to take their attention away from him.  They want to start this as a tradition for each grandchild when they turn eleven.

I think this is a terrific idea!  One that I want to establish.  Just gotta wait another 10 years.

You could do the same thing at different ages if you don’t have an eleven-year-old grandchild.  You could do:

• One is Fun
• It’s Great to be Eight
• Nine is Fine
• You’re a Queen (King) at Thirteen (or any other ‘teen’ years)
• On Screen at Fourteen (having the week long activities based around movies and maybe even creating a movie where they are the star)
• Lean Machine at Fifteen (with activities based around fitness or strength such as running a 5K race, doing a rope course, or wall climbing)
• Sweet Sixteen (do girlie things with your granddaughter)
• Mean Machine at Seventeen (where you go to a monster truck show, antique car show, or ride 4-wheelers at the sand dunes)

You can take these theme ideas and adapt them to what is available in your area, what your financial resources can handle, and how much energy you have.  Just keep in mind that if you do it for one grandchild, the other grandchildren will be expecting the same when they turn that age.

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