25 Ideas for Entertaining your Grandchildren

If you’re anything like me you’ll love having your grandchildren to stay. But when they’re under the age of five it’s a struggle to think of fun things to do with them. The good news is it doesn’t take a lot to keep them happy. I’m sharing my 25 ideas for entertaining your grandchildren below. You probably did most of these with your own children when they were small but it’s easy to forget! The best thing about these ideas is that they cost very little, or even nothing. Bear in mind that my grandchildren are four and two so if they’re a little younger or older you may have to adapt to suit them. Hopefully you’ll find a few that your grandchildren will love next time they visit.

1. Washing up

I don’t mean get the toddlers to wash up your dinner dishes lol. Although I’m sure they’d love to. Children under five love playing with water. So just fill the sink with tepid water and some washing up liquid and throw in some plastic beakers or even a toy tea set if they have one and let them wash up. They may need to stand on a chair to reach the sink, or if it’s warm you could put a dish of water on a chair in the garden for them. I always put a kids waterproof apron on Ashton (4) and Harriet (2) to make sure at least part of them stays dry. Remember to always keep a close eye on little ones when they’re playing with water though.

2. Find the ball

We have a set of russian dolls painted like cats and both our grandchildren love to play with them. We turned it into a little game where we place all the doll halves upside down and then tell the grandkids to close their eyes while we hide a small ball underneath one of the halves. It doesn’t need to be a ball, you could use anything that’s small enough to fit underneath … and you could use cups if you don’t have russian dolls! They really enjoy taking turns turning over each half to find the ball. And they want to do it over and over again, even with you closing your eyes while they hide it.

3. Watering the plants

This works better if they can water the plants (or even weeds) in your garden. It gets a little messy if they do it indoors! You could use plastic beakers you already have in your house or you can buy small toy watering cans really cheaply. Just put a bucket or dish of water in the garden so they can refill the watering can and they’ll do this for quite a while.

Get more gardening ideas for children during National Children’s Gardening Week coming up in June.

4. Sharpening pencils

Who would have thought that using a pencil sharpener would be a great idea for entertaining your grandchildren?! I bought a couple of little plastic ones that collect the shavings in the bottom. Put out a box of pencils that need sharpening and they’ll be thoroughly engrossed. Ashton absolutely loved this, and of course Harriet had to do it too so I made sure to get two pencil sharpeners.

5. Cutting Paper

You need to get children’s safety scissors for this activity. Remember safety first! I remembered this idea for entertaining your grandchildren from my own son doing it when he was small. Just give them some scrap paper or card and show them how to use the scissors. It takes a little while for them to get the hang of it but the concentration when they’re cutting is fascinating to watch. I remember my son’s tongue sticking out a lot when he was cutting paper. Never leave them alone with the scissors though.

6. Simon Says

I played this with Ashton and Harriet a few weeks ago and they really enjoyed it. Plus it was quite active so it gives them some exercise. If your grandchildren are on the younger side you probably can leave out the ‘simon says’ bit and just get them to do the different activity till you say stop. Things you can ask them to do are: hop on one foot, jump up and down, run and touch the door, sit down and stand up again. Obviously use your own imagination to come up with your own simon says tasks.

7. Reading together

A very obvious activity but something my grandchildren love is me reading to them. We have lots of books suitable for children under 5, most of them picked up from charity shops or car boot sales. When they’re two they don’t really want you to actually read the story. So I’ll get them to find certain things in the pictures or point things out to them. Then when they get a little older they usually want you to read the story a few times! My grandkids love The Beast Beneath The Bed and On The Road with Mavis and Marge.

8. Painting

You might find that your grandchildren don’t get to do this much at home … it’s a very messy activity! Just get some washable kids paints, some brushes or some foam rollers and some sheets of paper. Remember to put their aprons on. I laid a plastic tablecloth on the floor and also had some finger paints at hand. It’s usually a thoroughly messy but enjoyable session. And they have a masterpiece to take home with them.

9. Chalks

Less messy than paints but just as much fun. Chalks are very cheap and they come in all sorts of colours and shapes. Chunky chalks are ideal for small children to hold. This is a really good idea for entertaining your grandchildren in the garden. Just let them loose with the chalks on your garden path or even the outside walls of your house. Chalk will wash off with water so you needn’t panic about the mess … although if you wait for the rain to wash it off you might have to put up with your grandchild’s ‘art’ for a while. You could even try drawing a hopscotch and see if they’d like to play that.

See more things to do outside with kids here.

10. Play-Doh

Play-Doh is one of my favourite ideas for entertaining your grandchildren. They love it. You can make it yourself but I find it easier to just buy it ready made. It comes in lots of different colours but you can guarantee your little ones will just mix them all together so you end up with muddy brown. You can get some inexpensive tools to go with the Play-Doh so they can cut out shapes and roll it flat. There are loads of Play-Doh sets to buy, with themes like cakes and ice-cream or even a barber shop, but to be honest ours just like to use the rolling pin and shape cutters.

11. Tents

When I was young we loved to throw a blanket over the chairs and treat it like a tent. Did you do that? Well my grandchildren love doing this too. For some reason sitting in a little den is a lot of fun. And it’s even more fun if grandma or grandad can get in too. If you do want to spend a little money then there are some great play tents on the market. I quite like the look of this space themed pop up tent too.

12. Stickers

Children love stickers. I’d bought a few strips of stickers from Poundland and they went down a treat. Then I discovered these stickers on Amazon. They have a spongy-like texture to them and are 3D so they’re really easy for little hands to peel off and stick down. What I really liked about these was you can peel them back off the paper and stick them back onto the cellophane. Which means the kids can use them again. My grandchildren just like to stick all of them onto one piece of paper, and in no particular arrangement. Or you could draw out a scene … like an underwater theme with the water and some rocks/plants etc., then get the kids to add the fish stickers. Or a road them and use the cars, trucks and buses stickers.

If you love gardening then you could create some really fun sticker art with a garden theme. You can get some beautiful succulent clipart to make your very own stickers. I especially like the cute little Kawaii cactus clipart with the cartoon faces. It’s a great way of starting to teach your grandchildren about plants.

If you’re looking for Easter activities then Emma Bradley’s Outdoor Easter Egg Hunt Clues + Free Printable is just the thing.

13. Cafe / Burger Van

Pretend food goes down a treat with small children. So this is a fab idea for entertaining your grandchildren. I bought the Fisher Price Burger Van off Facebook Marketplace for £10 but you could just use a little coffee table. Or if you’re feeling creative you could make your own from cardboard boxes. You can get some great toy food like this wooden pizza, burger/sandwich kit and ice cream set or you could even use tins and packets from your own cupboards. Both Harriet and Ashton love to make me pretend lunch and watch me pretend eat it too!

14. Cbeebies Television

Sometimes it’s nice to let the grandkids watch the TV, it gives them and you a little down time! There are lots of great programmes on BBC’s Cbeebies channel. Harriet loves watching The Baby Club and Hey Duggee. And Ashton has watched Room on a Broom and The Whale and the Snail, which are lovely little cartoon stories suitable for 4 year olds. Plus most of the programmes are educational as well as very entertaining. I thoroughly enjoy watching Andy’s Dinosaur Adventures when they visit.

15. Cardboard Boxes

Definitely a versatile play thing. A cardboard box can be turned into anything! A spaceship, a boat or even a house. If you’re really creative you could probably make a cardboard cafe out of boxes. And you get an extra activity out of them if you give the grandchildren some crayons and get them to colour or draw pictures on the boxes. My grandkids sometimes even like to just sit in a box with a torch and a book. Strange what keeps them entertained isn’t it?

16. Baking

This one is definitely only for those grandparents who like to bake. Just like the painting it can get messy. I like to buy the little boxes of cake mix from the supermarket. Usually the ones that make fairy cakes with peppa pig decorations. Put an apron on your grandchild and let them help with the mixing and icing. I can remember enjoying doing this as a child. They love to watch their cakes or biscuits cooking through a glass oven door. And they can take some home to mammy and daddy.

17. Let’s play with pasta

Dry pasta shapes have loads of entertainment in them. Get some tube pasta and let the grandkids thread them onto some wool or string. Get some different shapes, pour them into one pile and then get the kids to sort them into their different shapes. Our most recent game with pasta involves a pringles tube. Cut a small hole in the plastic top (just large enough to push a piece of pasta shape through). Put the top back on the tube and then ask your grandchild to fill the tube with the pasta. Harriet loved this activity. As she’s only two she really had to concentrate on pushing them through the hole. If your grandchildren are a little older you could make it a race between you and them to see who can fill it the quickest.

18. Blowing bubbles

Children never seem to get tired of blowing bubbles. I buy the little pots of bubble mixture that come with a wand, but you can make your own bubble mixture. You can blow the bubbles for them and get them racing around to pop each one, or let them blow the bubbles themselves and you pop them! I have had one of those bubble machine toys in the past but it didn’t last very long and to be honest the 50p pot of bubbles seems to please them more.

19. Balloons

Balloons can be lots of fun. Play games trying to keep the balloons in the air and bat them back and forth. Get the kids to put the balloon between their knees and see if they can walk around with them (this gave them a lot of laughs). Or get a cheap balloon animal making kit, watch some YouTube videos on how to do it, and keep the kids entertained with your creations.

20. Building with Duplo

Although this will cost you a little to buy the Duplo, or you could use Megablocks which are a bit cheaper, the grandkids will really enjoy it. You can keep them entertained for quite a while building their own creations or watching you build something for them. Even our two year old Harriet loves playing with building blocks. And they don’t usually want to build anything fancy, just a very tall tower of blocks keeps them happy.

21. Get the photos out

Another really good idea for entertaining the grandchildren, and a good quiet time activity too. Flick through the photo albums with them. Especially photos of them or their parents. They love seeing themselves. Ashton often makes me go back to specific photos so he can look at them again.

22. Board games

Although my grandchildren are a little too young for a lot of the board games I have in the house, they still love to play with them. In their own way of course. They don’t know how to play Connect 4 yet but they both enjoy feeding the counters into the frame and then watching them fall out the bottom. They don’t quite understand Frustration but they like to make the dice pop up. And they don’t understand the rules of Jenga but they do like to build the blocks up (also good if you don’t have any Duplo!). Board games can be a great source of fun for little ones … just let them play with they way they want to. With supervision of course as there can be very small pieces in some of them.

If your grandchildren are older then why not start them on a card collecting game? They can be a lot of fun and could be the start of a new hobby for them.

23. Cbeebies Apps for Ipad or Kindle

Sometimes you just can’t avoid technology. So if your grandchild expresses an interest in playing computer games then Cbeebies have some lovely little games they can play on your Ipad or Kindle. You can play on the desktop PC but using a mouse may prove a little difficult for toddlers. Ashton especially likes the Tee and Mo game where he has to make sandwiches. Cbeebies games also feature Hey Duggee. Peter Rabbit and lots more favourite Cbeebies characters. And they’re free.

24. Crayons

We couldn’t have a list of ideas for entertaining your grandchildren without mentioning good old fashioned crayons. A box full of crayons and some paper to draw on can give lots of fun for under fives. Mine grandkids like me to draw around their hands or they draw around mine. Why not lie them on a large piece of old wallpaper and draw around their whole body … I remember doing this at school and found it fascinating. You can buy colouring books for under fives but to be honest they just end up scribbled on. So if you do buy these don’t buy expensive ones.

25. Nursery Rhymes

Children enjoy nursery rhymes, especially the ones that have actions. Like Horsey Horsey where they can sit on your leg and you bounce them up and down. Ashton still likes this but he’s getting a little heavy at four! If you’ve forgotten the nursery rhymes you sang to your own children then just google some or have a look on Youtube. You definitely have to learn how to sing Baby Shark these days. What’s your grandchild’s favourite nursery rhyme? Let me know in the comments below as I’m always looking for ones I haven’t heard of.

I’m featured in Twinkl’s Fun Outdoor Activities for Children blog, where you can see other brilliant ideas to keep your children entertained throughout the summer!

Whatever activities you choose to do with your grandchildren it’s sure to be lots of fun for them and you! They really do keep you on your toes and very, very happy. If you have anything to add to my 25 ideas for entertaining your grandchildren, please let me know in the comments section below.