5 Fun Activities you Can Enjoy with Your Grandkids

Now that you already have grandkids, it seems like all you want to do with life is bond and be with them all the time, right? For sure, the highlight of your week is when your grandkids get to visit you in your assisted living facility and do fun activities with them all afternoon.

Kids bring this positive energy and pure joy, making it hard not to love and be obsessed with them. But let’s face it, it’s becoming harder each day to keep up with their intense energy, the games they want to play, and the things they enjoy. 

So if you’re currently experiencing the same situation, then you are on the right path. We’re here to help seniors bridge the huge generational gap between them and their grandkids through simple ways. One such example is sharing a fun hobby or bonding over an exciting activity that both of you can relate to.

So, here are five intergenerational activities that both you and your grandchildren can enjoy and benefit from. 

1. Cooking and Baking

Everybody enjoys eating sweet pastries and traditional family meals. But kids not only love to partake in the “eating” part but also in mixing, chopping, and everything else that happens in the kitchen. So, if you have a special family recipe or a secret cookie baking technique to pass on, then now’s the time to do that!

Plan a cooking or baking bonding session with your grandkids when they visit you. Show them your kitchen tricks while also teaching them the basics of cooking or baking. Additionally, you can even teach them how to create your signature dish to pass on to their grandkids. How cool is that?

Cooking together allows both of you to bond, communicate, and even cultivate a revived or starting passion for cooking. It doesn’t matter what tasty treat or entree you prepare as long as you both enjoyed the time you spent together.

2. Reading

Being a grandparent is never really complete if you haven’t read a bedtime story to your grandchildren, right? This is like a rite of passage for every grandparent, so make sure to do this at least once in your lifetime. You can still do it even if you are in your assisted living facility through the help of caregivers and technology.

But if your grandkids LOVE reading books, then you can take it up a notch and make reading an activity that you can share with them. You can:

• Gift them your favorite novels when you are their age every Christmas or Birthday celebration.
• Accompany them to your local bookstore and help them pick a book.
• Make reading a free time activity by doing it with them. You can even do it remotely through online video calls.
• Converse with your grandkids about the books they recently finished. Ask them questions, discuss characters, and even dissect plots.

Furthermore, reading is an intergenerational activity that you can do with your preschool, middle schooler, teenager, or young adult grandchildren. 

3. Arts and Crafts

Another indoor activity that you can enjoy with your grandkids is arts and crafts projects. There are millions of activities that you can do, from simple painting on paper and Play-Doh creations to scrapbooking and drawing using a charcoal pencil. 

Moreover, both you and your grandkids can reap physical, mental, emotional, and social benefits from doing this fulfilling activity. This includes:

• Enhanced cognitive abilities, such as concentration, thinking, and memory.
• Increased creativity, self-expression, and self-confidence.
• Developed motor and visual skills and hand-eye coordination.
• Reduces stress by promoting relaxation.
• Increased sense of accomplishment, independence, and satisfaction.

Who would have thought that doing arts and crafts can benefit two people in different generations? 

Additionally, you can even invite your grandkids to your assisted living facility and let them join you during your arts and crafts activity hour. 

4. Nature Walks and Other Physical Activities

Every kid and kid at heart will definitely get excited for a fun adventure in nature, in the park, or even in your own home or yard. 

Since most theme parks are still closed at the moment, then maybe you can take your little adventurer on a hike instead! You can follow a familiar trail in the woods or the nature park near your community. Kids will love the fresh air and this change in scenery since they had been cooped up in their homes for too long. 

Additionally, they love seeing and observing the local wildlife and asking unending questions about the flowers and plants. There are also other ways to enjoy different physical activities with your grandkids, including:

• Power walking in the neighborhood or the nearby park.
• Playing in the public playground.
• Playing tag or physical sports in the park.
• Teaching the kids to do cartwheels or vice versa.
• Riding a bike.
• Gardening, woodworking, or landscaping.

These physical activities not only fulfill your and your grandchildren’s inner adventurer spirit. But it also helps you both to be physically fit and healthy.

5. Digital Games

Kids these days usually love to play games on their PlayStation 5 or get addicted to a mobile game. Unfortunately, these things typically make it hard for seniors like you to bond with them. But why not try to do some online stuff with the kids for a change?

Make your teenager grandkids’ day by playing Wii sports and beating them in bowling. Learn their favorite digital pastimes, or better yet, ask them to teach and guide you through it. Who knows? Maybe you’ll enjoy PS5 games and even share this new activity with your friends in your assisted living facility!

If your grandchildren are not into online games, then maybe they’ll enjoy a Netflix movie night or a Spotify sing along with their grandma and grandpa. Plus, other content on the internet can equally entertain and boost kids’ and older adults’ cognitive function.

Conclusion

Seniors and their grandchildren share a lot more interests and hobbies than you may have realized. So, make each day count by discovering your common denominator and making lifelong memories.