Grandparent’s Day is the first Sunday following Labor Day. Started in 1970 by Marian Lucille Herndon McQuade and made official by President Jimmy Carter’s 1979 signed proclamation, Grandparent’s Day was not another florists’ or card-makers’ marketing campaign, but a grass roots effort to provide an opportunity:
1. To honor grandparents
2. To give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children.
3. To help children become aware of the strength, information and guidance older people can offer.
Mrs. McQuade saw Grandparent’s Day as a family day. Here are ways you and your family might celebrate Grandparent’s Day.
- Learn about the history of Grandparent’s day, its founder Marian McQuade, and her ideas for how it can be enjoyed.
- Read Jimmy Carter’s 1979 Grandparent’s Day Proclamation.
- Hold a large family reunion, or a small backyard family get-together.
- Play an intergenerational board game such as checkers, Chinese checkers, or chess.
- Conduct oral interviews. You can use these sample interview questions, or create your own. Grandparents have rich histories to share.
- Share the family photo collection. This is a good time to write down the names and significance of those in the photo along with the occasion.
- Enjoy your grandparent’s hobby with him or her. Grandparents usually have amassed a wide variety of skills that can be passed down through generations.
- Have a grandparent help you construct the family tree. You can use this simple form or create one of your own. If you use Microsoft Excel you might like this free family tree template.
- For a simple family tree, you might prefer this simple Semi-Circular Family Tree Craft from Enchanted Learning.
- Visit the elderly in nursing homes who do not have family nearby.
- Make Grandparent Bookmarks.
- Enjoy these Grandparents’ Day printables and activities from A Kid’s Heart.
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