{"type":"blog","locale":"en","slug":"gifts-for-grandma","path":"/en/blog/gifts-for-grandma","translationKey":"cadeau-opa-en-oma","title":"Gifts for grandma and grandpa: 10 personal ideas","description":"Gifts for a grandma and grandpa who already have everything: 10 personal ideas for Christmas or a birthday, from a photo book to a birthday calendar.","date":"2026-11-09","updated":null,"author":"Little Chapters","image":"/images/content/cadeau-opa-en-oma-8.webp","imageAlt":"A colourful birthday calendar with twelve month panels hanging on a light wall","imageWidth":1080,"imageHeight":1260,"heroVideo":"/images/content/cadeau-opa-en-oma-8.mp4","cta":"app","category":"cadeaus","tags":["grandparents","christmas gifts","photo book","birthday calendar"],"faq":[{"q":"What is a good gift for grandma?","a":"A good gift for grandma is something personal, such as a photo book of her grandchild's year, a birthday calendar with photos, or an afternoon together when you ask her about the old days."},{"q":"What is a good birthday gift for grandma?","a":"Something personal works best for a birthday. As a parent, you could give a birthday calendar with photos of her grandchild, or a photo book of the year. If you are a grown-up grandchild yourself, an album of photos of the two of you or a meal out together makes a lovely birthday gift."},{"q":"What is a good Christmas gift for grandparents?","a":"A personal gift they can't buy anywhere, such as a photo book of their grandchild's year or a birthday calendar with photos from each month. If you are short on time, a framed drawing or a recording of your child also makes a lovely Christmas gift."},{"q":"What do you give a grandma who has everything?","a":"Give her something she can't buy anywhere: her grandchild's year. A book with photos from the past year and the small stories that go with them, like a first word or what was said at the table. Or time together: an afternoon with her grandchild on the calendar."},{"q":"I haven't kept track this year. Can I still make something?","a":"Yes, it's never too late. You can go through the months behind you and choose a few photos for each one, with a line to go with them. If you'd like to keep it smaller, the birthday calendar is a lovely alternative: one photo a month is enough."}],"readingMinutes":6,"html":"

The best gift for grandma and grandpa is one they can't buy anywhere: the year of\ntheir grandchild, told by you, in a photo book or on a birthday calendar. What she\nsaid when she saw the Christmas tree. The song he wanted to hear over and over.\nBelow are 10 ideas, from a book to leaf through to something you can make in an\nafternoon, and what to give if you are a grown-up grandchild yourself.

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10 gift ideas for grandma and grandpa, including Christmas gifts

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For Christmas, a photo book of the year, the calendar or a bauble with a photo all\nwork well. They are just as good for a birthday. The first three are made from what\nyou already have: your photos and your stories.

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  1. A photo book of the year. The photos in order, with the\nstories behind them. Lovely if you have something to say about your photos.
    2. \n
  2. A birthday calendar with your child on it. Photos from each month. A good\nfit if you are short on time, or if there are two sets of grandparents.
    3. \n
  3. Reading along all year. Invite them in the app and they see every new\nchapter. Lovely if they live further away.
    4. \n
  4. A framed drawing. Let your child draw, and write on the back what it is\nsupposed to be, according to your child.
    5. \n
  5. A hand or footprint. In clay or paint, with the date.
    6. \n
  6. A recording of your child. A song or a story, recorded on your phone.
    7. \n
  7. A book of questions for grandma. About the old days, and about when you were\nsmall.
    8. \n
  8. A photo on something she uses every day. A mug, a photo puzzle or a bauble\nwith a picture of your child.
    9. \n
  9. A day together. Write a date on a card: a walk in the woods, baking biscuits,\ngoing swimming.
    10. \n
  10. A small, sweet gesture. Homemade biscuits with your child's scribble on the\nlabel, a handwritten letter, or a newspaper from the day she was born.
    11. \n
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Birthday gifts for grandma from a grown-up grandchild

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Are you the grandson or granddaughter yourself, and is grandma a little older? A\npersonal gift still works best, especially for a birthday:

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A gift for a grandma who has everything

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However full the cupboards are, she can't buy her grandchild's year anywhere. She\nprobably gets photos in the family chat already. But loose photos don't tell the\nstory. A book shows how the year went, in the order it happened, with the things\nonly you know.

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A year in order, with the stories behind it.
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It's a book to pick up when visitors come round, or with a grandchild on her lap.

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Then it's no longer about the photo, but about the moment: do you remember?

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What to put in the book

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It doesn't have to be perfect or complete. Choose a few photos for each month that\ncapture how that time felt, and write a sentence or two with them. The small things\nare what make the book:

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Not sure how to start? Finish one of these sentences:

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Haven't kept track this year?

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A year flies by with a small child, and it's never too late. There are two easy ways.

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Look back. Open the app, go through the months behind you and choose a few\nphotos for each one, with a line about what you remember.

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Give the calendar. The birthday calendar asks less of you: one photo a month is\nenough.

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\"An
Photos from each month of the year.
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A birthday calendar as a gift for grandma and grandpa

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In the Netherlands, where we make Little Chapters, the birthday calendar\ntraditionally hangs in the loo. Which means grandma and grandpa get to look at their\ngrandchild every single day.

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You make the calendar from your chapters: photos from each month, with lines next to\nthem for writing down the birthdays. Choose the colourful version, with its own\ncolour for each month, or the classic one, calm and white. If you have more than one\nchild, they can all be on it.

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Two sets of grandparents? Then you don't have to choose who gets it. You make the\ncalendar once and order two, one for each.

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Photos from each month, with room for the birthdays.
One calendar for each set of grandparents.
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Making a photo book for grandma and grandpa: about 10 minutes a month

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In Little Chapters you put a few photos in a chapter each month and write down what\nyou want to remember, or just say it out loud. That takes about 10 minutes a month.\nKeeping up is easier than catching up: every month you do now is one you won't have\nto search for next year.

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By the end of the year those chapters are almost a book, which you can order as a\nprinted photo book. It can also be portrait, with tall pages that\nsuit phone photos.

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Text goes with the photo it belongs to: just tap the T.
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Let grandma and grandpa read along all year

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Family can read along for free in the app and see every new chapter. Would you like\nthem to add something themselves? With Plus you can invite them as\nwriters.

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A gift for new grandparents

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Are your parents becoming grandparents for the first time this year? Then the first\nbook about their grandchild is a gift they will leaf through again and again. Is the\ngrandchild still on the way? You can already start during\nthe pregnancy. Looking for something for the parents themselves?\nTake a look at the baby gift card.

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After the unwrapping

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Perhaps the best part of this gift isn't the book or the calendar itself, but what\ncomes after. Grandpa reading out loud what his grandchild said at breakfast. And you\nnext to him, having already half forgotten it yourself.

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