With snow and rain keeping many of us grandparents and grandchildren inside longer than normal this winter, it's definitely a cause for creative "thinking outside the box" to keep our often energetic grandkids busy and engaged if they are visiting for a long period of time or if we are regularly involved in babysitting the grandchildren (just call me granny nanny).
Board games, computer games, and fun Wii games for grand kids and us seniors who love them are great.
Reading lots and lots of books is wonderful as well.
But here's one I hadn't tried in a while and maybe you haven't either.
Interesting or intriguing, easy or difficult, jigsaw puzzles can be a great way for grandparents and grandchildren to spend a fun afternoon or evening together.
They provide some good "critical thinking" exercise of the brain - for both the juniors and us seniors.
There are even some really cool challenging jigsaw puzzles for the older crowd of grands - tweens and teens.
And if you are working with a mixture of ages, it's easy to provide a 100 piece puzzle for the younger crew, while 1000, 2000, or even 3000 piece jigsaw puzzles can entertain the older group.
This past Christmas, we set up a long folding table that was big enough to hold a 2000 piece AND a 100 piece on the same table.
My grandson worked industriously and happily next to one of his favorite aunties and they had a fabulous time staying busy while chatting away.
That's another great thing about this pleasant past-time.
You can talk while you work.
As much as I love playing Wii Sports tennis with my grandkids, it's a little tough to "wax eloquent" with them, or find out how their day went.
Having a pleasant conversation while putting pieces in the puzzles is quite easy and delightful.
If the grandkids aren't there all the time, but they don't finish a challenging project, you might want to consider a jigsaw puzzle mat that can roll up.
You work on the mat which is then put on the table.
When you are done for the time being, roll it up and store it away.
When they come back to visit, just unroll it and you're ready to take off on the jigsaw puzzles, right where you left off.
I really love educational and creative activities for grandparents and their grandchildren and was thrilled to add some fun jigsaw puzzles from Ravensburger to our pile of family games.
We had a great time and enjoyed adding great new photos of the fun activities to our albums along with sweet family memories to our hearts.
Board games, computer games, and fun Wii games for grand kids and us seniors who love them are great.
Reading lots and lots of books is wonderful as well.
But here's one I hadn't tried in a while and maybe you haven't either.
Interesting or intriguing, easy or difficult, jigsaw puzzles can be a great way for grandparents and grandchildren to spend a fun afternoon or evening together.
They provide some good "critical thinking" exercise of the brain - for both the juniors and us seniors.
There are even some really cool challenging jigsaw puzzles for the older crowd of grands - tweens and teens.
And if you are working with a mixture of ages, it's easy to provide a 100 piece puzzle for the younger crew, while 1000, 2000, or even 3000 piece jigsaw puzzles can entertain the older group.
This past Christmas, we set up a long folding table that was big enough to hold a 2000 piece AND a 100 piece on the same table.
My grandson worked industriously and happily next to one of his favorite aunties and they had a fabulous time staying busy while chatting away.
That's another great thing about this pleasant past-time.
You can talk while you work.
As much as I love playing Wii Sports tennis with my grandkids, it's a little tough to "wax eloquent" with them, or find out how their day went.
Having a pleasant conversation while putting pieces in the puzzles is quite easy and delightful.
If the grandkids aren't there all the time, but they don't finish a challenging project, you might want to consider a jigsaw puzzle mat that can roll up.
You work on the mat which is then put on the table.
When you are done for the time being, roll it up and store it away.
When they come back to visit, just unroll it and you're ready to take off on the jigsaw puzzles, right where you left off.
I really love educational and creative activities for grandparents and their grandchildren and was thrilled to add some fun jigsaw puzzles from Ravensburger to our pile of family games.
We had a great time and enjoyed adding great new photos of the fun activities to our albums along with sweet family memories to our hearts.
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