Easy Crafts and Activities for Toddler & Preschool Grandkids

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Grandparents! Mention that you are a grandparent in a crowd and you’re likely to have one or more grandparents perk up their ears and say, “Hello, I’m a grandparent too! ” I got to enjoy that several times while traveling and visiting on my vacation to Roseville, California last month!

Plus, I got the added bonus of lunch with a fellow grandmother. We had a fast and fun chat about issues ranging from LinkedIn updating issues (another fun and geeky grandma 🙂 ), to job hunting tips and tricks – just as important for boomers and seniors as for our kids and grandkids, to fun ways to keep young grandkids busy. (As I love to say, busy grandchildren are HAPPY grandchildren! 🙂 )

Since her oldest grandchild is three, he is at the perfect age to start some fun crafts and games and I shared some of my favorites with her before I had to run for another appointment.

I thought I’d do a recap of some of our favorite toddler projects for her AND for you! Fun for all of us!

Games Activities Grandparents Grandchildren

Sequence for Kids – I remember searching high and low, long and hard for games a 3-4 year old could enjoy and found two we especially loved (and still play today – both my 4 year old grandson AND, occasionally, my 10 year old grandson who still enjoys it all these years later!

Cranium Cariboo was my grandkids favorite for years! I think we started playing it when they were 2! Sadly, it doesn’t appear to be available any more new – at least, not for a reasonable price. But if you can find a used version (try ebay), you might still be able to get replacement parts for it from Hasbro who made it. And your grandkids will LOVE it – both sets of mine did!  And Hasbro does have several pre-school games, tho none look like they’d work for grandkids as young as Cariboo did.

The nice thing is, Amazon does have some new games I’m not familiar with including one or two for 2 years and up. Like…

 So if and when any more grand-cherubs come along, I’ll have fun test-driving new ones. What about you? Do you have any to recommend?

Crafts for young grandkids

 

Play Doh is always popular and great for 3-5 year olds with supervision. It’s generally non-toxic and there are  so many fun kits to take those of us not-so-brilliantly-crafty to new heights of grandma greatness in our grandkids’ eyes – like making – GASP – Play Doh Spagetti 🙂

I’m actually planning on getting brave and trying out home-made play-doh that is “edible.” So if grand-toddler puts some in his mouth, it won’t hurt him. Then we can work with it now instead of waiting another year or so. Very fun! I saved some recipes for that at my Pinterest board – grandkid-fun – if you’d like to try it as well.

Stickers are a grandparent’s friend! They are great for all ages. Even my 2 year old grandson was able to make simple pictures while his older siblings had fun with more advanced pictures and designs over the years. And the delight was just as eloquent at 2 as at 11! He especially enjoyed making funny faces with a similar workbook the last time I visited (he’s four now).

Cooking crafts for grandchildren

If cooking is your “thang,” how about whipping up a batch of sugar cookies (or do what I do and cut and bake Pillsbury sugar cookies), set out a variety of tasty toppings and turn the grandkids loose to make decorated dough boys, girls, monsters, shapes, stars, etc. VERY fun and VERY yummy!

All of these are great for a wide variety of ages including toddlers and even my friend’s little one-year-old grandchild could have fun munching cookies! My grandson sure did when HE was one.

Past activities for grandparents and grandchildren

Here are some other articles with fun and easy crafts and projects for our kids and grandkids (not to mention all of us boomers and seniors who have fun with all these adorable grandbambinos)!

• Easy Crafts and Activities for Seniors and Their Grand kids On Christmas Eve and Beyond
• Fun and Easy Crafts for Kids and Seniors are Favorites in Our Sandwich Generation Family
• Wooden and Foamie Christmas Tree Ornaments Activities for Grandparents and Their Grandchildren are Full of Sweet Family Memories
• Busy Grandchildren Are Happy Grandchildren

Enjoy those grandkids. And YES, we’d love to see pictures. 🙂

Kaye

P.S. I’d love for you to LIKE me at SandwichINK for the Sandwich Generation – I’m always finding more fun grandkids activities and ideas and sharing them there, as well as at Pinterest here.

P.P.S.