Grandma's DVDs - How could Grandma not recommend her own DVD's and CD's? Use the songs and activities on these dvds and cds to encourage your family to do things together - whether it is putting on your pants, playing in the yard, acting out a story, eating your dinner, or......?
These cups work perfectly for toddler painting! You don't really need more colors, so 4 is perfect, and 4 fit in an easel tray. The cups provide for both paint storage and less mess when painting. The "bulb" brushes that are also available fit their preschool hands perfectly.
These are the brushes that fit preschool hands so well!
Sea Life Tub Puppets - These are so much fun to use in the tub, AND you can use them to sing the "Best Friends" song that Grandma has written. It is available on Sing Together DVD Vol. 1.
Graco Bumper Jumper – Not only do I remember wiggly babies of my own, but I have grandbabies that wiggle and jump and get frustrated that they can’t do life on their own yet. This jumper keeps both my grandbabies and their house safe while their parents get some sanity time. Another great shower gift!
Nursing Apron/Bib – This was a shower gift for our first grandson and I’ve been giving them away at showers ever since. GREAT!
Portable high chair - No more high chairs! This portable high chair has been an important part of our grandchildren’s lives. It is easy to clean (a must!) and travels well. A GREAT shower gift and a must for grandpas and grandmas!
Bumbo Baby Sitter - To tell you the truth, I wasn’t nearly as impressed with the bumbo seat when my grandchildren were babies. Now that they are toddlers, I love the way it helps them sit in the big chair both at the table and at the kitchen counter. You still have to keep a good eye on them as the bumbo doesn’t tie down.
“The Jesus Storybook Bible” written by Sally Lloyd-Jones; illustrated by Jago, c. 2007 by Zondervan – Every story in this book, from Genesis to Revelation, helps us see how Jesus rescues us and restores our relationship with God. Although our 2 year old grandson (a linguist!) enjoys having a story a night read to him from this book, generally kids ages 3 through early readers would enjoy it and be able to understand the stories. There’s a lot of insight in it that we adults can pick up too, and readers (8-12 year olds) could read it with/to you.
Baby Beginnings by Gospel Light – This is a great way to let your child (0-2 or 3) know that you love them and God does too. I haven’t used the whole curriculum, just the parts that are for adult/child interaction. “I Love to Look” is a series of 12 Bible story picture cards with instructions on how to use them. “I Love to Wiggle and Giggle” has short daily activities that you can do with your child. “I Love to Sing” has great music for your child to hear, then sing. I got a set for each of our kids to use with their kids. They make a great baby shower gift! The I Love to Sing CD is only available through Gospel Light.
The Book of Kindergarten Puzzles #1 - by Gospel Light – Children, ages 3-7, will be able to enjoy working through these Bible activity pages with you. Together you’ll be learning to count, draw, color, do mazes, make choices, etc. Not only are these great learning activities, but they are reproducible so you can copy them off in sets and reuse them over and over again. I like lots of grandchildren but can’t always spend lots of money, so this is a great book for me. There is a second book - The Book of Kindergarten Puzzles #2 – if you need more puzzles.
Anne of Green Gables DVD and Collection - Here is a movie that will last for a lifetime of entertainment, fun, emotion, and family discussion. Some might think of it as a "chick flick", but it is so much more. It is full of situations in which you should step back and ask yourself (or your child/teen) "What would I do in that situation if I was...?" and name any of the characters involved. A family should watch this over and over and over again throughout the years. To help with that, grandma has a list of discussion questions to help you.
Connect Four - Although this game is rated for ages 7 and above, it can be used with younger children to teach them color sorting, taking turns, and making patterns. I have a wonderful time helping our under 3 year old grandsons "play" this game together. Be sure your kids are beyond the "everything goes in the mouth" stage!
Zingo - Grandma loves bingo!! You can learn so many things while having bingo fun. That's why I love this new game that is a form a bingo. Zingo helps young children learn to read while they are playing a game. (Playing a game helps them with discipline too!) Zingo is like bingo, but has draw tiles that have both pictures and words on them. You can even get Zingo in Spanish and Hebrew!
Roomba Robotic Vacuum – I don’t know about you, but I like clean floors. Before I got my Roomba, I didn’t have them very often because I didn’t have the time to vacuum. I’ve had Roombas now for about 6 years. My current one is a # 530 as I don’t need the timer or ‘lighthouse’ features. I can vacuum while I work in the yard, or do a project, or take a walk, or play with my grandkids. Our kids have them, and they clean around the toys just fine. You do have to watch that the grandkids don’t try to ride them! Robotic vacuums seem expensive, so look for a deal that fits you. I get so much more time and pleasure because of my roomba that I’ll always have one around. They make ones for tile and the garage too. I was given a scooba (tile cleaner) by our kids about a year ago. It is MUCH noisier than the vacuum, but does a good job of keeping the floor clean once you get up the stuff that is really stuck on. I could eat off my floors! We have recently gotten the dirt dog model. It is a sweeper only (no vacuum) and is also noisier than the roomba vacuum, but it did a GREAT job in our attic space where Grandma couldn’t even stand up to sweep. Try them all! (If you have a Costco membership – they carry them too!)
Kitchen Aid Mixer – My wonderful husband gave me one of these because I love to bake. I’ve had the same mixer with absolutely no problems for about 20 years. We’ve had so much good food from it that our kids also have them. We even like the recipes that come with it! This mixer saves time and is full of reliability – both of which are musts in my world.
Lemon Squeezer - Grandpa likes to drink lemon water in the mornings and he likes it warm. I was processing the lemons from our tree in big batches and freezing ice cubes for him, but lemon juice is sticky and they tended to clump. We found this easy to use lemon squeezer and got it for Grandpa for his birthday. He loves it! I’ve been squeezing and freezing ¾ c. of lemon juice and ¾ c. white sugar in a quart freezer bag. It’s easy to store, and when you want lemonade you just put the contents into a ½ gal. pitcher. Add water by rinsing out the bag with cool water and placing it in the pitcher too. That way you are sure to get all the lemon juice and sugar into the pitcher. You can put the bag back in the freezer for reuse or toss it.
Pastry Blender - When growing up I was taught how to use two table knives to blend fat into flour. More flour always ended up on the counter than in the bowl! As an adult, I had seen pastry blenders, but some of them are quite flimsy. The one in this picture isn’t quite like the one I have had for years, but it looks close. Look for both a sturdy handle and for blades that don’t bend with the cold fat that comes straight from the refrigerator.
Can Opener - Grandma’s hands sometimes have trouble with can openers. This style grips the can so all you have to do is turn the knob. Grandpa got me one for my birthday a couple of years ago and it is a hit in our kitchen. (Yes, Grandma likes useful gifts like that, even for her birthday! However, Grandpa did also make dinner for me.)
Nut Grinder - Both Grandpa and I love nuts. I do a lot of baking with nuts and Grandpa puts nuts in the hot cereal we eat each morning. We’ve had this style of nut cracker for years because it allows us to do a little bit or a lot. We keep it in the refrigerator with nuts in it, ready for the next use.
Toilet Seat - A toilet seat is the last thing I thought I'd care about, but I want to replace the rest of our toilet seats with this one! (It is hard to go back and forth between a toilet seat that closes quietly and one that YOU have to close quietly!) The bathroom is a quieter place because this seat closes quietly no matter how hard you push it. AND we found the quick release feature was wonderful when the whole family came down with the stomach flu (a wonderful thought!). You just turn the connections to the left and pop the seat off for a quick clean in the shower/tub. A cleaner and quieter bathroom makes grandma happy!
Garbage Can - Want a clean, fresh smelling garbage can? I didn’t think they existed until we tried these. The garbage doesn’t change, but because of the size of this can you take out the garbage often. AND, you don’t mind doing that because those pesky plastic bags that you always have so many of are lining the can. It is quick and easy to pull up the handles and tie off the bag and throw it into the BIG can. You can load this can up with 6-8 weeks worth of plastic bags and enjoy having a fresher smelling house for weeks with little effort.
Grandma got her “grand dog” one of these pooper scoopers for Christmas several years back. It has been left outside in the weather next to a bucket (for deposits) and still works perfectly every time. It makes it easy for this grandma to pick up the yard before she plays in it. I’ll have no hesitation in teaching our grandkids to use it when they are a tad bit older. (Right now we’re teaching them to search for and point out the deposits we need to pick up.) Long term reliability & usefulness with little or no maintenance – great deal!
Joint Drilling Fixture - Grandpa and I were trying to figure out how to put together the gates for our new fence with the tools and parts that we already had when we remembered we had bought this drill jig. It is amazing how easy it is to use and how well the joints turn out. If you are a "handy" person, this is a great tool to have around!
Quick-Grip 546 Mini Bar Clamp - Grandpa & I worked on putting up a new fence and found that we couldn't always be in the same place at the same time. Even if we were in the same place, we often needed more hands that we had between us. Our kids came through with these handy clamps. They are so easy to use and position and come in a bunch of sizes that will work for either the crafter or for someone who works on the really big jobs. If no one in your family has any of them yet, this would make a great gift! (We'll be borrowing them from our kids again and again!)
Citristrip Stripping Gel - It had been years since I had stripped any furniture, so I wasn’t sure what product to use. We ended up buying some Citristrip and it was wonderful. You can’t strip without getting messy, but it is nice to know you don’t have to be smelly too! It took me 2 coats of Citristrip over about 2 hours to get 3 coats of polyurethane off. Worked great!
Cordless Screwdriver - We've had a cordless screwdriver for some time, but it was always a "manly" one - plenty of gumption and speed for the BIG jobs, but too heavy to get out for the little ones. I always thought that the "little" ones were on the "worthless" side. That opinion changed when I spent a week with my mom (GREAT!!..grandma)painting and doing small jobs around the house. She had a small cordless screwdriver that worked great and was easy to use. So, I got one for our house. At first, Grandpa wasn't sure he would ever use it, but now he is always asking me to put it in with his tools so it will be available for jobs wherever we are. These are SO useful and not very expensive, so they also make great gifts.
Adobe Photoshop Elements - Grandpa and I took a course at a local college that helped us learn about the full photoshop software suite. That is what we have at home. I've also used the photoshop elements package in a volunteer office situation and I prefer it because it is simpler to use and understand, even if it doesn't have as many extra options. We rarely use the depth of the full version that we have at home.
Adobe Premiere Elements - This is the video editing program that I use. I now have a current version, and find that it is simple enough for me to understand and creative enough to do most of what I can imagine. Grandpa and I took a video course that used this software at a local college that gave us lots of help too.
Corel Draw - Grandma loves this graphics program. She uses it to build her bingo and match games. She also makes greeting cards with it. Grandma finds it simple and easy to use. This is the link to the Home and Student version that should be adequate for beginning users.
Debt-Proof Living - Need help with finances? I've given this book to two family members and it has helped them enormously. Mary Hunt has been in debt and found a way out. She writes in a commonsense style that will enable you to understand what she is recommending and why it will work. Her "cheapskate" tips are also practical. Although I haven't read all her other books, I give this one five thumbs up!
Nurture Shock - We come into this world with some presets (nature) and we control and grow those presets within our environments and interactions (nurture). This book helps us discover some of the fallacies and assumptions of our nurturing processes. It is written in a plain and simple style (for Grandma!) and yet cites and explains many scientific studies (for Grandpa!).
Picture Me with My Grandma - I've received this wonderful book with great sentiment from my grandchild. It has holes where the faces of the grandma and grandchild go. You put your own pictures on the last page so they show throughout the book. There are several other "picture me" books available, so you could do one for grandpa, mommy, etc., and personalize several other stories with your own child's picture in them. My kids found mine at a garage sale and added pictures over the ones that were there. These are special and heartwarming reminders of the relationships we are building with each other!!!
Mr. Putter and Tabby Pick the Pears - This is a wonderful example of a whole series of books that are a delight to share with grandchildren. The stories draw their humor from the challenges of aging in a most respectful way. With engaging illustrations and easy to read text we're sure that you'll enjoy the whole series as much as Grandma and Grandpa have.