The relationship between grandparent and grandchild is a unique one – even though you are of a completely different generation to one another, there are so many things that bring you together and that you can bond over. Having a close relationship with your grandchildren is amazing – they will look up to you and respect you massively and they are a great touch of youth to add to your lives to keep you feeling active and energetic. Not all people have grandparents or are fortunate enough to have a deep relationship with them, but if you are one of the lucky few, you should definitely make an active effort to be more involved in their lives. Here are some ideas.

Take up Baseball practice with them

Taking up a sport with them can be really good fun and will give you an activity that you can enjoy together and bond over. Not only will this bring you closer together, but it will also help you develop skills alongside each other. Furthermore, this is great for keeping you active – a lot of people in their old age neglect the importance of exercise, but it is really essential for staying healthy and feeding into a balanced lifestyle. Anytime Baseball supply sells all types of baseball supplies so you don’t necessarily have to practice within the club setting – you can practice outside of this too. This is great for getting better at the sport in situations like the current pandemic, and it’s also great for general flexibility. To ensure that you are practising a fair amount together, why not assign a specific time that you practice together?

Speak to them on a regular basis

For some grandparents, seeing your grandchild regularly isn’t easy, especially if you live a long distance away from each other. If this is the case, ensure you have regular contact with them by speaking to them often on the phone or on facetime. A lot of grandparents become quite distant from their grandchildren and subsequently end up having not much of a relationship with them, which can be sad because you become quite out of touch with what is going on in their lives. Having a weekly scheduled call can be a great way to combat this – even if you are just speaking for 15 minutes, it can be a great opportunity to check in with one another and give updates on what you have been doing that week. It will also mean that when you do get to see each other in real life, it won’t feel as though you haven’t seen them in forever.

Up your caring responsibilities for them

A way that a lot of grandparents become heavily involved in their grandchildren’s lives is by taking on care responsibilities for them. Often, grandparents have retired, so they don’t have a busy schedule, but parents are often running around and feeling very chaotic. Why not take a weight off their shoulders and offer to look after the grandchildren after school some days, if you live fairly nearby? By seeing you on a regular basis, your grandchild will normalize your company and will feel really comfortable around you, which is essential for maintaining a healthy relationship. This will also be really handy for their parents, knowing that their child is in safe and trusted hands. If the parents are having a particularly busy weekend, why not invite your grandchildren over to stay for the weekend? Being with them for a prolonged period of time will also help you bond more and will give you a chance to spend full days with them at a time.

Teach them new skills

As a grandparent, you are well equipped to teaching your grandchild some new skills and this can be a great way that you can bond with one another. This could be anything – maybe give them a few different options they can choose from. For example, knitting, drawing or woodwork can be fun things to do together – these are also great indoor activities for when the weather isn’t so good outdoors. Being quite a bit older than them with a lot of life experience, you are uniquely placed to teach them skills that wouldn’t be taught in school but would be really useful to know in life. You could even start a project together – creating something with an end goal in mind. This will be great for their personal development as well as giving them valuable knowledge.

No matter where you live in the world in relation to your grandchild, keeping a good relationship and having an active role in their life is really important. You could end up shaping them massively and it is nice for a young person to have older role models who aren’t necessarily just their parents.