Grandparent Gift Ideas

I don't know if this is helpful but my dad's parents were impossible to buy for so my mom would get them seafood. Lobster tails, crab legs ect -- they always loved it.

What about Thirty0One style tote bags. They could use them to store some of their stuff or to use when they travel to see you guys.

My grandfather is 98 and needs/wants nothing! But he recently moved from Philadelphia to Kansas City and corresponds regularly with his friends back home. We got him some personalized stationery and address labels. You mentioned your parents recently moved and lived far away so perhaps something like that? Maybe your children could use a piece of the stationery to draw a picture or write them a special note.

Perhaps you can take pictures of them with their grandkids and give them those. You could print them while they're there. This would be different than pictures of just the kids. I'm a bit speechless about them not wanting pictures. They take up so little room.

My daughter put together pictures of her children along with a picture drawn by the older one and signed by both kids and framed it. I have it sitting below my TV and enjoy it everyday.

You could have the 6yo draw a picture of them having a good time somewhere and include that with the tickets/card if you want to include the kids in the gift. Ask your child to draw what he thinks would be the best way for his grandparents to have a good time or give some sort of suggestion for the drawing.

If they read, you could have the 6 yo to decorate a piece of heavy paper to use as a book mark.

Have the 6 yo draw a picture to give to them. If they don't want to keep it they can toss it once they get back home. This will give your child the experience of giving a gift.

I'm not sure what a 2 yo could do. You could make hand prints with both kids on paper and perhaps have the 6 yo decorate the edges of the paper. Again, they can easily toss it if they want.

But, I wonder if you're taking their statements too literally. I suggest they would treasure efforts made by their grandchildren to please them.
They're trying to eliminate things and perhaps have over stated their wishes.

I'm 70 and am very aware that I need to get rid of things so that my daughter will have less to deal with when I'm gone but it's hard to do. I say don't buy me anything but I'm always pleased when they do.

It is a gift from your "family."
But if you and your sister, jointly decided to gift your parents with the trip, then it is from you and your sister. It is for your parents from you and your sister. THEN you also have a Husband/kids and yourself... and you can give your parents something from you/your Husband/your kids...ie: your, "Family."
Just sign the card from, you/your Husband and kids.

"Pictures" of the kids can be:
a picture in a frame, or
a few pictures in an Album.
An album, is easily stored... ie: on a shelf or display shelf. Not hard to find room for it.

Or, a gift basket. Harry and David makes good ones.
www.harryanddavid.com
My late Dad, loved their food baskets.

do they cook? .. could u have your kids make one of those jars with all the ingredients to make some kind of cookies.. my mom got them from a few of her kids when she taught at a nursery school and she thought it was really cute .. you put all the measured dry ingredients in a mason jar and put the lid on and tie a bow around it and then attach a little label to the bow with the directions.. that way its a gift but its something they can use and get rid of, make the cookies, throw out the jar, eat the cookies and theres nothing to take up space in their house.. and also your kids wil actually be "making" the gift

Maybe the kids could give something that would be part of the weekend away such as a gift card for a restaurant meal or tickets to a venue where you will be going.

No, the weekend is from you and your sister. You and your children are blessed to be able to make and give them something, we lost both my parents this year. Giving a gift, especially a handmade one is a precious lesson to learn.

If they have no room for hanging pictures you could make them magnetic picture frames for the refrigerator, no wall/shelf space required. Or, a set of the fridge magnets. The photo pendants are also practical as they take up very little space, you could put Grandpa's on a keyring. Here's the link on how to make these and more:
http://www.tipjunkie.com/homemade-gifts/12-best-gift-idea...
Here's a link for the photo pendant supplies:
http://www.sunandmooncraftkits.com/ ... I think they're sold on on Etsy, too.

Even homemade fudge or cookies on a cute serving tray would be nice, the tray can be used year round filled with books, magazines or mail:
http://tipnut.com/diy-trays/

If none of these appeal to you do a search for "easy gifts to make for grandparents." Have fun :)

Your gift can be from the kids too. Nothing wrong with that. I give the grandparents a Picture Calendar from Shutterfly. They love it. They get to show it to all their friends and they have it up for the year. This way they don't have to worry about where to put all the new photos. Or your kids can make a certificate book for hugs and kisses and help around the house.

This is a strange question for me cos when my kids were small the only presents were for them from Santa!

Our family tradition was to have an "adults only" Xmas Eve party when the adults exchanged presents with each other. The following morning ALL the presents under the tree were for the kids from Santa!

It was only after they became teens that they got to join us for Xmas Eve dinner and started either making or contributing to gifts for their grandparents....and us!

The adults in my family have never expected gifts from the children and this is the first time I've learnt that for some families it's quite different!

Obviously, from reading these posts, everybody does things differently. So, I guess it's up to you to decide. I think it's important for kids to learn to give, not get, especially at Christmas time. So, I've always had my kids give their grandparents a small gift - slippers, gloves, etc. I also have each child give a small gift to each person in our immediately family. They each get their time to be the giver and give out their presents. They are so excited, they love it! Sometimes they're very inexpensive items - a candle, etc; sometimes they're handmade items - an ornament, etc. We've even done our own mix CDs of songs we think they'd like!
Usually, we go online and order a personalized photo calendar for the grandparents. You put in your own photos and add in important dates, birthdays, anniversaries, etc. They always LOVE it!
This year, we decided to make a hard cover photo book for my 98 year old Grandmother. She was an artist, so this year we filled with photos of many of her paintings. So it will be like a coffee table book of art - her art! I know she's going to love it!
Other ideas - a gift card to their favorite coffee house, a nice writing pen, a purse hook, a pair of earrings, a scarf, a gift card to purchase ebooks, etc.

Maybe make candy with your kids for them. Or purchase candy from a local candy maker and put in a cute basket.

I guess I'm in the minority here, but I think it's perfectly fine for a 6 year old a 2 year old to go in on the family gift. I would have the 6 year old make a card or picture as her present. I mean, your parents expressed they don't really want anything and they are trying to downsize.

If you really want to do something, then maybe have the 6 year old think of a place that you all can take them while they are visiting for their gift. Like if your parents really like coffee, plan a morning to have them go out for coffee and treats and give your 6 year old the money (tell mom of course too) and have her "pay".

Or, I like the idea of having them get something that goes along with their weekend getaway...like travel soaps, etc.

I also thought the idea of address labels was a good one. Those are handy and I doubt your mom or dad has had time to think of such a little thing. Vista Print has some really really cute designs and I'm sure your older child would get a big kick out of choosing the design for them. You could certainly narrow it down to a few choices first so that it's easier.

Have your kids make a picture for them. Something mom can tuck away in a drawer as a keepsake but isn't required to hang up or display.

OR they could make up a coupon book of things they can/will do for/with them during the long family weekend. Things like "Help grandma with dinner" I don't know where you're going or what there is to do, but I bet they can come up with a few things to coupon.

Do they have one of those photo frames that does the running slide show of photos? you have to download the photos onto a flashdrive and then plug that into the frame. you could tell them that you will copy all the photos they have currently into it and then they only have to have the one frame out instead of a lot of different ones.

if not. then a totally different idea would be to have the kids help make some cookies and deorate them that your parents could take home.

Since they are filled to the gills, how about something they can use or wear?

-a scarf for your mom
-warm cozy throw blanket for each of them
-gift certif (sm amt) to a restaurant near them
-leather gloves for your mom, work gloves for your dad