Easy, Memorable Grandparents Day Crafts for You and Your Baby

Grandparents Day is an excellent opportunity to honor the special relationship between grandparents and grandkids. Handmade Grandparents Day crafts make ideal gifts—even the youngest grandchildren can help create personalized crafts alongside adults and older siblings. 

What’s Grandparents Day?

The origin of Grandparents Day goes back to 1956, when Marian McQuade organized a community celebration for people over the age of 80. Marian’s event focused on the contributions of local seniors and sought to reach out to those who seldom received visitors in longterm care facilities. It became an annual tradition.

Marian worked to expand public awareness about the unofficial holiday throughout the 1970s. Grandparents Day was recognized as a holiday in West Virginia in 1973 and, five years later, Jimmy Carter signed a national Grandparents Day proclamation. While the proclamation did not establish the holiday as a “bank holiday,” it added the holiday to a list of other nationally-recognized holidays like Valentine’s Day, Father’s Day, and Mother’s Day.

According to the proclamation’s preamble, Grandparents Day is a holiday “to honor grandparents, to give grandparents an opportunity to show love for their children’s children, and to help children become aware of the strength, information, and guidance older people can offer.”

Today, National Grandparents Day is celebrated every September on the Sunday following Labor Day. 

Memorable Grandparents Day Crafts and Activities

Creating a thoughtful, personalized Grandparents Day gift is fun and sure to result in something special the grandparents will love. These ideas for handmade gifts and unique activities will get your creative energy flowing. 

Craft a Classic Card

Parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents treasure handmade cards. Even if your baby is too small to add their own artistic touches, you can incorporate a small photo of them or simply sign their name. 

Start from blank, pre-folded cards or colorful cardstock. A handmade card is perfect on its own or to go along with any of these other gifts for new grandparents.

Get Messy with Fingerpaint Art

Babies love splashing, whether it’s in water, mud, or fingerpaints. Trust us—fingerpainting isn’t as difficult as it sounds. Even very young babies can take part in this sensory activity. Just make sure to buy baby-safe (edible) fingerpaint. You can even create your own!

Put your baby in some clothes you aren’t afraid to get dirty (or strip them down to their diaper). Then guide your baby’s hands to some paper or canvas and let them go for it. Once the paint is dry, write a Happy Grandparents Day message. Don’t forget to upload some photos of the colorful, messy process to your FamilyAlbum! 

Make an Artistic Photo Frame

Select and print some adorable photos of your baby, either alone or with their grandparents. Buy plain wood frames for the photos and add your own touches. Attach decorations like silk flowers and charms, or add a handwritten message. The possibilities are endless! 

If you want more space for personalized touches, you can also buy a larger frame and decorate a mat to place inside.

Decorate a Grandparents Day Plate

Buy a white ceramic plate and decorate it with food-safe ceramic plate markers. Include your baby’s birth date, a special message, or create your own design. Fill the plate with a batch of cookies or cupcakes and add a small wire photo holder with a picture of your baby. 

Use Your Baby’s Tiny Hand and Footprints

No matter how young your baby is, you can create one-of-a-kind crafts that incorporate their hand and footprints. Use baby-safe ink to add handprints and footprints to a card or canvas. The tiny prints can add an adorable decorative touch to painted ceramic planters and mugs, too. 

One cute idea is to use baby footprints to create a heart. Next to the heart, write or print a Grandparents Day poem. There are lots of great Grandparents Day quotes to choose from, too! 

Create a FamilyAlbum Photobook

In just a few taps, you can create a printed photobook grandparents will love. Customize your own photobook, or use FamilyAlbum’s suggested photo layout.

Photobooks are ideal when grandparents live far away. Just have them shipped directly from FamilyAlbum!

Feature Your Family’s Generations

Highlight the generational relationship among you, your baby, your parents, and their parents. Create a photo collage featuring each generation of parents and your baby. Include a printed copy in a hand-decorated frame, or upload your photo collage to your FamilyAlbum to share.

Share a Happy Grandparents Day Video

A video “greeting card” is a fun alternative to a traditional card. Create a video featuring you and the grandkids to say “Happy Grandparents Day!” Another option is a video slideshow brimming with adorable grandkid photos. Don’t forget to upload your video to your FamilyAlbum!

Host a Special Grandparents Day Meal

Invite the grandparents over for a meal in their honor. This is one of those Grandparents Day activities that gives grandparents what they want for this holiday most of all: time with their grandchild. 

Incorporate a Grandparents Day Quote or Poem

Write your own message to go along with your craft, or find one of a number of available Grandparents Day quotes. A poem is also a poignant option. Channel your inner poet to create one, or choose a Grandparents Day poem online. 

FamilyAlbum Makes It Easy to Save and Share Memories with Grandparents 

Above all, Grandparents Day is the perfect opportunity to make and share memories. If you’re able to be together on this important day, don’t forget to snap some photos of the proud grandparents. But even if you can’t be together in person, sharing photos and videos with FamilyAlbum is a great way to show your gratitude. 

With FamilyAlbum, you can start creating your family’s story, even before your baby is born. The app is easy to use, so everyone in your family can see all the latest pictures of your baby as you upload them. Best of all, it’s a safe place to share photos because you decide who to invite to your album. 

Grandparents love interacting with FamilyAlbum. They can leave comments and create photobooks of their favorite photos any time they like. FamilyAlbum is perfect for looking back on the joys of grandparenthood year-round.