Grandparents’ Day – Sunday 1st October 2023

Dear Grandma and Grandad,

We are lucky. In fact, the luckiest.

Your freezer is always full of the best ice lollies, we can play Daddy’s old drum kit as loud as we like and you make us sausage sandwiches before school. You don’t mind us making potions out of the best flowers in your garden, or playing princesses with your shiny jewellery, you even don’t mind watching endless episodes of Bluey over and over… and over.

You don’t have a PlayStation or iPad at your house, which we actually love! You taught us how to play Chess and Uno and don’t mind getting the messy paints out. You’re like a real life, walking, talking Alexa, how do you know EVERYTHING?! I do think we teach you a lot too. Like did you know there are 905 different types of Pokémon? You’ve nearly perfected flossing. And you’re really good at using YouTube now!

Going to your house is like going on an adventure, it has the best hide and seek places, like our little brick play house in the garden that Grandad built. It’s like a magical house, when Mummy and Daddy say ‘no’, that ‘no’ turns into a big ‘YES’ at your house… we stay up late, have sweeties before tea and bounce higher and higher on your springy bed!

Above all else, Grandma and Grandad, you give us time. Time slows down at your house. There’s no ‘hang on a second’ or ‘one more minute’… you’re never too busy to listen to us, talk to us and play all day long. When we all sit together on the sofa, Grandma and Grandad, snuggled under the fluffiest blanket, with the dreamlike glow from the corner lamp and a bowl of chocolate buttons and we say, ‘tell us another story, you’ve only told us four, we love your stories Grandma, please just one more’.  

Thank you Grandma and Grandad for giving us the most magical, love-filled and cherished first chapter of our lives.     

Love Jacob and Eleanor

Grandparents’ Day – 1st October 2023

Grandparents come in all shapes and sizes and my children have the best. My children would honestly pack their bags and move in with them given the chance. It doesn’t seem fair to only have one day to celebrate how truly incredible they are. Grandparents’ Day was introduced in the UK in 1990, by the charity Age Concern and celebrated every year, on the first Sunday in October.

Grandchildren are a grandparent’s link to the future, whilst grandparents are the child’s link to the past. They are the ultimate storytellers, be it embarrassing stories about their children, keeping the family history alive or concocting the best make-believe fairytales and slightly stretching the truth.

Sharing stories with grandchildren is a wonderful way for grandparents to connect with the younger generation and has endless benefits such as:

1. Sense of belonging – hearing stories about ancestors helps grandchildren to connect themselves to their family, being able to relate to personality traits or physical characteristics gives them a sense of security in the family unit.

2. Cultural background – sharing family stories helps to strengthen intergenerational ties and keeps traditions alive. It helps children understand their cultural backgrounds and can be a gentle way to introduce themes such as migration, racism and heritage.

3. Builds confidence – through storytelling from their elders children can learn about family pride, their values and beliefs. In turn this contributes to inclusion and connection and makes children feel empowered.

4. Inspiring – stories from grandparents may entail how they navigated different experiences, solved problems or dealt with challenges. Thus, inspiring children to overcome obstacles in their own lives.

5. Legacy preservation – Grandparents can preserve their legacy for future generations. Little ones are great at asking ‘why?’ and sharing stories brings out their curious side. Like little sponges all these tales get soaked up and passed down from generation to generation.    

Storytelling is so valuable to a grandchild, it can be a wonderful opportunity to connect, spend time together and slow the day down. Hearing tales from the people they love most in the world provides comfort, develops empathy and boosts positive mental wellbeing. Above all else it grants quality time together and we all know time passes quickly.

Below are books about grandparents that my two children LOVE! They vary in theme from preserving the earth, the power of imagination, mixed race families and our favourite television characters. Our full list of titles ‘Celebrating Grandparents’ can be found here. Or our ‘Great Books to Read Aloud’ list is a fantastic bank of titles to read to your grandchild (preferably under a fluffy blanket with a bowl of chocolates too!)  

Laura, Content Selection Team