Giving Grandchildren A Great Time

The Grandchildren are coming to stay. You're excited. But then you begin to worry. Will they be bored? How will you occupy them when they leave their mountain bikes and computer games behind?

Relax. Surely it's the differences in the way time is spent with Grandparents that makes it so memorable. Working Mums don't get much time to bake cakes and knit doll's clothes. Busy Dads don't get round to going swimming or having a game of chess.

That's not to say that a few ideas up your sleeve would be wasted. If your home environment is very different from theirs i.e. town and country then there will be lots to see and do. If not, dream up a couple of walks to parks or museums they never visit, take the bus if they go everywhere by car, visit a proper restaurant or coffee shop instead of fast food outlets.

Try to find photographs of when you were children and tell them about your life then. Perhaps you could start a family tree book together with photographs and a few lines about each person.

Older children staying for a weekend or longer might like to help Grandad with a diy project, putting in a pond or laying a few paving stones. Boys or girls would enjoy learning how to make sausage rolls and real lemonade to drink afterwards.

You could teach them how to play some of the old fashioned games like jacks or marbles, or show them how to press flowers, leaves and grasses as a lovely reminder of their holiday.

Buy a scrap book and school glue to save tickets, postcards, feathers etc. and take the time to teach them how to tie fancy knots or start little girls at crochet or embroidery.

Make a den with chairs, pegs and sheets just the way you did for their parents or sail paper boats in a washing up bowl on the lawn.

For quieter times raid your bookcases for a Billy Bunter book or an Enid Blyton adventure story to read together and you could be starting them on a lifetime of fun.

After a long stay it would be nice to have an extra special outing. You could watch knights jousting in the grounds of a medieval castle, watch lions and zebras roam a wildlife park, marvel at the huge animals at a Shire horse centre or thrill to the excitement of an air display. These are just a few of the endless possibilities. Visit your nearest Tourist Information Centre and collect a host of leaflets about local and national attractions.

Finally, don't forget to take some photographs as the memories of this special time together are sure to be among the most precious in your lives. Have fun!