National Grandparents Day

National Grandparents Day is Sunday, September 11. To help bring the generations closer, the Legacy Project  is launching its 12th national Listen to a Life Essay Contest. Grandchildren interview grandparents about life experiences and advice to win a Grand Prize of a Lenovo ThinkCentre computer and $25,000 of EdOptions educational software. They’re often surprised by what they learn — which is the best prize of all.

Legacy Project Listen to Life Essay Contest

The annual contest is part of the Legacy Project at www.legacyproject.org, a multigenerational education initiative with the nonprofit Generations United in Washington, DC. The contest runs to March 30, 2012.

Encourage your grandchildren to participate. Spend time together on Grandparents Day sharing with your grandchildren you life experiences and advice, even if they don’t want to write the essay. This is a wonderful bonding activity for grandparents and grandchildren together!

Grandchildren Interview Grandparents

Sometimes it is difficult for a grandchild to know what questions to ask to find out about their grandparent’s life. As a grandparent, you can ask your grandchild a question and then have him ask you a similar one back. One question often leads to many more. If the interview gets “stuck”, then ask your grandchild another question about his life, and in turn again, he can ask you one in return.  In order to keep the grandparent – grandchild interview moving along, suggest using a voice recorder or a video camera with sound on. This would be a wonderful keepsake for generations to come! Also, find a relaxing place to “chat”…such as a picnic with favorite snacks away from distractions.

It’s About Creating and Saving Memories

If you can’t get together, use a webcam and a free program such as Skype or Google Chat to share memories. However you choose to spend Grandparents Day together, you will be creating a new memory that you and your grandchild will hold on to for a very long time.