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, November 18, 2011

Thanksgiving Memories and Place Mats


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Friday's Grand Connection Fun
by Mary May Larmoyeux

I'd like to share something with you from Heloise's Helpful Hints newspaper column. A reader named Laraine R. wrote that she makes place mats to remember various trips. After using double-stick tape to put trip memorabilia in place on poster board, she covers it with plastic.

My imagination came up with a few more ways that we can use Laraine's fun idea with our grandkids. What about making special Thanksgiving place mats for the family that are filled with memories of people and events that we are grateful for? For example, if a new grandbaby was born this year, we could have a copy of the birth announcement, photographs of Mom and the baby coming home, etc.

Or, maybe a grandchild recently graduated from high school or college. That place mat could have graduation pictures, copies of the invitation, etc. And if there's a little slugger in the family, how about focusing on baseball games and sports celebrations?

Of course, we wouldn't need to use actual pictures in today's world. We could print digital copies of photographs on plain paper. And we might want to focus on lots of people or events that we are thankful for, rather than just one specific person.

Here's another idea: We could help the grands make their own gratitude place mats. They could select pictures, write words, copy Bible verses, etc. onto a piece of poster board. It could be covered with plastic or laminated at a local teacher supply store (Mardel Bookstores often do laminating, too). We could ask grandchildren to make a place mat honoring one of their siblings, parents, or teachers.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, you may want to read the article 10 Ways to Keep Thanks in Thanksgiving . It's in the new issue of Encouraging Women  With Hearts for Their Homes.

Have a great weekend,
Mary
http://www.marymaywrites.com/

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Photo and post © by Mary May Larmoyeux. All right reserved.

4 comments:

Unknown said...

What a great idea! How fun! This idea reminds me of a personlized plastic plate I made for my parents when I was in 3rd grade. I was shocked to see they still have it! What great memories.

Mary May Larmoyeux said...

Bet that made a big smile cross your face when you realized that your grandparents still had that plate after all these years, Sharon!

Anonymous said...

Love the ideas of photo memory place mats. -- Rita

Mary May Larmoyeux said...

Good to hear from you, Rita! -- Mary