Grandparents Day Classroom Theme Ideas

Many people are very close with their grandparents, especially during childhood.

Grandparents Day was celebrated for the first time in 1973 in West Virginia. Five years after that, in 1978, it was declared a national holiday by the United States Congress. Grandparents Day is celebrated in September, on the first Sunday after Labor Day. Students can spend some classes on themes related to Grandparents Day in the preceding days to appreciate the significance of this holiday.

Discussion

Grandparents Day was established to remember the value of grandparents and their contributions to their families, especially to the lives of their grandchildren. It would be appropriate to have interactive discussions with students regarding family, their relationships with their grandparents and activities they perform with their grandparents. It is important to have knowledge about the familial situation of the students and be sensitive towards those who might have lost or never met their grandparents.

Guest Attendance

Students can invite their parents or grandparents to class. During their visits parents and grandparents can talk about their relationship with their own grandparents when they were kids, and also how being a grandparent differs from being a parent. They can also be asked to talk about favorite activities they like to perform with their grandchildren.

Presentations

Have students prepare this assignment in advance. Ask them to give a small presentation about their relationship with their grandparent. They can demonstrate something they learned from their grandparent, bring something they made with their grandparent (such as cookies) and talk about how they made them, or tell a story about their grandparent's life.

Making Gifts

One or more classroom sessions can be spent when students prepare gifts for their grandparents. These can be artistic projects such as a painting or a little sculpture, or literary projects. Students can write or find a poem as a gift to their grandparent and record it on tape or put it behind a photograph. Students who do not have grandparents they are in touch with can prepare the gifts for a relative or a close family friend.

References

• Grandparents Day
• Grandparents: National Grandparents Day
• Proteacher: Grandparents Day