The 4th of July is a day for grandchildren and grandparents together to celebrate our nation’s independence and continued freedom. Take the time to talk about what the 4th of July celebration means to you and your family. Tell your grandchildren how you celebrated the 4th of July when you were their age. What traditions did you enjoy? Start them up with your grandchildren now.

Where there are grandchildren, there are bikes. When I was a young girl in Connecticut, we would decorate our bikes and have a parade through our community’s safe, side streets. Our families would line up along the curb and cheer us as we rode by. The younger ones were in decorated wagons pulled by older siblings or parents. The last year we lived there, the local country club held a 4th of July costume contest. My older sister was Martha Washington and I was Miss Liberty with a Flag Dress and Crown. We both won prizes and it is something I haven’t forgotten over these past 50 years!  After the parade, we all gathered for a block party while we waited to leave for the local fireworks display that night.

All your grandchildren will need to decorate their bikes and wagons are rolls of red, white, and blue steamers, flowers, etc. and your imagination their imagination. Include their pets, too, for added fun!

Here is a YouTube video of one community’s 4th of July Bike Parade:

From Nana, Poppy, Kaitlin, and Emily
to all grandparents and grandchildren:

Have a safe and happy Fourth of July together!

Find more 4th of July fun here:

• ZiggityZoom.com
• HelloKids.com

Grandparents, the web is a great source for free grandchildren friendly items that promote family fun, crafts, health, safety, and environment education. Here is a list of 10 free offers for your grandchildren from some of those sites:

1. Kids Coupons: online, Absolutely Incredible Kid Day by PaperMate
2. Child Safety Kit: order, Polly Klaas Foundation
3. Endangered Species Book: online, free picture book from the EPA
4. Fit for Kids DVD: order, Agency for Healthcare and Research
5. You Can Be a Nurse Coloring Book:  order, Johnson & Johnson promotes nursing careers
6. Kids’ Pop-up Art Projects: online directions, Great fun activity with a Grandparent!
7. Feed Our Kids Well Cookbook: order from Ragu and then download Ragu’s Free Recipe Widget
8. Healthy Habits Activity Book: online, Lysol plus A Guide to Kids in the Kitchen, and more!
9. Super Kids Cookbook: online, from Dole
10. Healthy Habits for Life: online, Sesame Street

Enjoy these free items with your grandchildren. Grandparents, if you find any others, please send me an email and I’ll include them in my next Freebies post. Thanks, Nana

Grandmothers, a fun activity for spending time with your granddaughter is teaching her how to add embroidery to personal items and gifts. What once was a daily past-time for young ladies seems to be a disappearing art. Grandmothers and mothers for generations before us have passed this wonderful, creative craft on, so please don’t let it fade away.

Grandchildren, ask your grandmother to teach you how to embroider. And, if she doesn’t know how, learn together. You’ll both have a lot of fun decorating jeans, pony tail holders, pillows and more together.

Nana Corner recommends the book, “Kids’ Embroidery” by Kristin Nicholas, for ages 5 and up. To learn more, click on the book image.

I previously wrote a post on March 8 about Eyejot, a grandparent user friendly webcam program that can be used from your desktop or laptop so that you and your grandchildren can keep visually in touch while having enjoyable conversations, too.  If you are a distant grandparent, using Eyejot with a webcam is great. Your young grandchildren will recognize your face, not just your voice, when you visit. (Read my post linked below for more information on Eyejot.) (more…)

Grandparents, together with your grandchildren read these Easter and Spring poems, then write a poem together. Use the poem to create a greeting card. The following Easter and Spring poems were taken from “Side by Side, Poems to Read Together”, collected by Lee Bennett Hopkins. 

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Grandparents, as you know, Easter will soon be here which provides for a great opportunity to sit down and spend quality time with your grandchildren. While creating one of a kind artistic masterpieces to cherish, take advantage of your time together and chat about anything and everything that comes along. I’m sure it will become a well thought of memory for both grandparents and grandchild in years to come.

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