Welcome to a place where we can share ideas about grandparenting, especially ways to pass spiritual values and family stories to the next generation.

Mary is the co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart.
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Co-author of The Grandparent Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your Grandchild's Heart

Friday, May 22, 2009

A Day with Great-Granddad

Friday's Grand Connection Fun
by Mary May Larmoyeux

I read a neat article in an old issue of Family Fun (September 2008) by Shelley Abreu. Her father died when her oldest child was about three. Shelley grieved that her kids would never know this grandfather.

The article tells how she created “A Day with Grampy Rick.” She wrote down favorite memories on cardstock (such as blank index cards) and pasted descriptive pictures on the cards. For example, she says: “I scrawled ‘Tickle Torture’ and pasted on a picture of my dad tickling me. He was famous for his tickle attacks …”

When she completed a stack of “memory” cards, she put them inside one of her father’s old suitcases and tied a card on the outside handle that said, “A Day with Grampy Rick.” Yes, she attached a favorite picture of her dad.

Shelly explains in her article that whenever she opens the suitcase with her children for a “Day with Grampy Rick,” she shows them the pictures and reads the accompanying memories—and then they do some of the activities. Example: After she reads “Tickle Torture” and the memories, she tickles the kids.

Isn’t this a great idea! We could expand this to “A Day with Great-Grandma and Great-Granddad,” “A Day with the Jones Family,” or “A Day on the Family Farm, etc.”

Have fun!

He is able,
Mary
Mary May Larmoyeux
www.marymaywrites.com

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2 comments:

TNT said...

What a simple idea and yet...so powerfull! Connecting the two -pic's & comments- folks that weren't part of making the original memory can keep good memories going. I'll be using this food for thought. Thanks!

Mary May Larmoyeux said...

It is a neat idea! The magazine Family Fun has lots of good ideas in it. - Mary