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

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

Darlene T. from Salem, Utah, wrote to me to share some of her ideas about being a grandmother. She said:

“One thing that I learned from observance is just to love the grandkids. Our job is not to discipline — just to love. That doesn’t mean that we can’t teach or set right examples, but we don’t have to make discipline the main focus. My mother tried to just discipline and some of my kids ended up with bad vibes. So just love them.

“One thing that I do is to have a “birthday dinner” for them at their birthday time. They can choose the entire menu, get to use a red plate, and get sung to. I do buy them a gift, but I don’t give it to them at their birthday dinner which I have on the Sunday before their birthday. Everyone is excited to sing and see what their menu is. Because of this year being a little different (note: Darlene fell while skiing and broke her hip), my one granddaughter did not get her birthday dinner. When she and her mom (my daughter) were helping me shower and get dressed when I got home from the hospital, she mentioned that she does not feel like she was 9 years old. It dawned on me that she has not had her “Oreo” cake that she requested and has not been sung to. Her birthday is still not complete.

“Another thing that I have tried to do but have not done every year is holding “Grandma’s Summer Camp.” At first, I let little ones in diapers come, but now with so many (we now have 28 grandchildren) I only invite those that are potty-trained and those who can swim. (Note: Darlene has a swimming pool at her home.) We do lots of fun things such as horseback riding, swimming, and participating in the Spanish Fork children’s parade, which means we have to make a float. One year my 5 year old grandson walked a llama in the parade. (Note: Darlene and her husband have an assortment of unusual animals and that was where her grandson had access to a llama!)

“I ‘baby-sit’ every Tuesday for my daughter that works that one day a week. I really look forward to it because all I really do is just pick up Justin from kindergarten at noon, and then we do errands. He gets in the car and says, “How many stops, Grandma?” I try to make them fun stops. He likes Costco, going to a candy store, and of course Carl’s Jr. Then I go to their home and help the older kids with homework especially the 2nd grader with spelling words. We just make a game of it and have a great time.

“But as I said earlier, the main thing is just to love and accept them. I wish I would have done that with my own kids- — just give undivided attention and make games of it. Maybe that is why grandmas are good.”

Ideas that I loved:

• Having a special red plate for the birthday grandchild to use for the birthday dinner
• Making a float and participating in a children’s parade
• Grandma’s summer camp
• Making errands fun when you have a grandchild accompanying you

Well, I’m off to buy a special red plate!
Digi-Gram