The celebration of Grandparents Day in the USA has been a tradition since the 70s as a way to honor the love grandparents have for their grandchildren. It also provides a meaningful opportunity to have a conversation about the lives their grandparents have lived, the adversities they have overcome, and to share in special moments of family togetherness. If you are looking for personalised gifts for grandparents or grandparents’ day quotes, you are in the right place!
When is Grandparents Day 2022?
First, you should know that Grandparents Day falls on the first Sunday after Labor Day. This year, 2022, Grandparents Day falls on Sunday, September 11.
DIY Gifts for Grandparents
If you are looking for grandparents day gift ideas that include the personal touch of creating it yourself, we have collected a few simple DIY gift ideas that you won’t want to miss.
DIY Postcard
If you are spending this Grandparents Day apart, you can still surprise your loved ones with a personalized postcard from your family. If you plan to send out many postcards, you can consider using a program like Canva to create postcards and share them virtually or order prints. Or if you have a photo that you have already printed that you would like to create a postcard out of, consider following this DIY photo postcards tutorial.
If you aren’t sure what to write on the inside of the card, we love this Grandparents Day quote from ProudHappyMama:
“On this day, and every day, my wish for you is that you know how much you truly mean to me and our family. There hasn’t been a day in our lives where we haven’t loved you. Happy Grandparents Day!”
Grandpa’s Workshop Metal Print
Does the grandpa in your life spend a lot of time in their garage, working on their lawn, or in a woodworking shop? You can create custom gifts for grandpa to keep in his workshop! We love the idea of creating custom metal prints online with a photograph of grandpa mowing the lawn with his grandchild or teaching an older grandchild to weld or fix cars. Those special teaching moments are sure to be treasured by Grandpa and he will love to hang them! Metal prints are also highly durable and can be easily wiped clean. Hang these beautiful metal prints indoors or outdoors, wherever Grandpa will enjoy them most.
Family Photo Book: The Family Tree
It can be so easy to love grandparents where they are today that sometimes we forget where they came from. Your family tree is an invaluable part of Grandparents Day in the USA. To create this personalized photo book, start by researching your grandparents and their family history. This is a fantastic opportunity to scan old photographs to create digital versions which will last longer than the originals and preserve those precious memories.
Include information such as where your grandparents grew up, their home life, whether they served in the military or attended college, and what early life together looked like. Before the age of cell phones, pictures were a once rare opportunity so creating a photo book online that collects all of these memories in one easily-accessible place makes for truly special grandparents day gifts.
A bonus aspect of saving all those old photographs in a new photo book is that your grandparents can share their history with eager grandchildren without worrying about them wrinkling or damaging the original photographs.
SimplePrints also offers the ability to share virtual versions of the photo books with family and friends!
Then and Now Side-by-Side Canvas Prints
Do you have a vintage photograph of your grandparent as a baby or small child? Or a photograph of them with their own children when they were young? You can create custom canvas prints to hang side-by-side to honor the growth and change within your family. Create canvas prints from photographs that show the progression over the years and then hang them in order on the wall. You can show then-and-now canvases of their transition from a parent to a grandparent or even create photo prints from your grandparents wedding day beside a canvas print of them today. These custom canvas prints are sure to be treasured Grandparents Day gifts!
Photo Books Designed by Children
Grandchildren love to create personalised gifts for grandparents and if this sounds like the child in your life, they might enjoy creating a photo book from their own perspective! If your older child has their own phone or camera, you can even include pictures that they took themselves.
Include photographs of special trips they might have taken with their grandparents such as field trips to the zoo or family road trips. Let your child come up with their own captions for the photographs - their grandparents will love hearing things from the child’s perspective!
Don’t forget to include sweet Grandparents day quotes:
“Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.”— Alex Haley
“To a small child, the perfect granddad is unafraid of big dogs and fierce storms but absolutely terrified of the word “boo.”— Robert Brault
“Grandparents are the best kind of grownups.”— Unknown
Grandparents Interview Photo Book
The celebration of Grandparents Day in the USA provides a unique opportunity to spend time with grandparents. Sometimes schools or after-school groups will get involved or you might visit your grandparents specifically for the occasion. If you have the chance, consider asking your grandparents questions about their life and their wisdom.
Grandparents love to impart what they’ve learned throughout the years and you can save all those special answers in a Grandparents interview photo book. This is one of our favorite gifts for grandparents ideas because it creates an exceptional keepsake for everyone.
Here’s how you do it:
Use the caption feature to create a page for each question and a page for each answer. Fill the book with photos related to the questions or with your favorite photographs from moments with your grandparents. This is a fun photo book idea that will be treasured for years to come. You could even consider creating a mini photo book set so that you can share a book with each generation. Photo books come in a set of three so the grandparents, parents, and child could each keep a copy.
Some ideas for questions to ask your grandparents:
“Where were you born?”
“Who were your parents/siblings?”
“What jobs have you worked throughout the years?”
“Did you have any special pets growing up?”
And so many more. Use this opportunity to learn more about the special grandparents in your life. You could even use life lessons that you’ve learned from your grandparents, that will warm their hearts to know you remember, instead of (or in addition to) the questions. You might just learn something you didn’t know before!
Grandparents Day Activities
If you are looking for an active way to honor the celebration of Grandparents Day in the USA, nothing beats a barbecue at the park. Make all your grandparents favorite sides, such as macaroni salad or freshly sliced watermelon, and enjoy a lovely day at the park. Grandparents will love watching the grandkids play in the park and spending time with their loved ones.
If your school doesn’t have anything planned to celebrate Grandparents Day, consider taking your grandparents out for tea or coffee at their favorite diner or try a new spot in town together! They will love the chance to chat over delicious tea cakes and catch up with their grandkids.
Is your grandparent a movie fanatic? Take them to see a movie they are interested in at a comfortable, modern theater, or experience a blast from the past and head to a drive-in movie! Your grandparent will love sharing “how things used to be” with the new generation.
No matter how you celebrate Grandparents Day in USA, we hope that you take the time to honor the special people who helped you get where you are today.
Get Your Grandparents Day Gifts on Time!
Make sure to get your orders in for photo books, canvas prints, and metal prints by the following dates to make sure they arrive by September 11! These deadlines will help make sure Grandparents Day 2022 is a memorable, heartfelt day.
US Standard Aug 28
US expedited Aug 29
US Rush Aug 31
Click here to download the SimplePrints App to create your photo Prints.
Guest Blogger: Cameya Martin
Cameya Martin is a mother, a wife, a self-identified horse-girl, and a writer. She writes articles for small businesses, memoirs for people, and fiction for herself.