Games for Grandparents’ Day – Celebrate the Seniors in Your Life

The Importance of Grandparents

Grandparents play a unique and irreplaceable role in our lives. They are the keepers of family traditions, the narrators of history, and often, the most indulgent members of the family. Their wisdom, patience, and unconditional love provide a foundation of support and security that enriches our lives in countless ways.

Grandparents’ Day

Grandparents Day is a special occasion dedicated to honoring the invaluable contributions of grandparents in our lives. Celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day, this day is a wonderful opportunity to show appreciation, create lasting memories, and strengthen the bond between generations. Whether planning a grand celebration or a quiet, intimate gathering, here are some ideas and inspirations to make Grandparents Day truly memorable.

Ways to Celebrate Grandparents’ Day

Share a Meal

Organize a family brunch or dinner. Cook their favorite dishes or try a new recipe together. Sharing a meal is a timeless way to connect and enjoy each other’s company.

Create a Memory Book

Compile photos, letters, and mementos into a scrapbook. Include notes of appreciation and fond memories from each family member. This thoughtful gift can be cherished for years to come.

Plan a Day Out

Spend the day doing something your grandparents love. Whether it’s a visit to a local museum, a walk in the park, or attending a community event, the time spent together will be the most valuable gift.

Handmade Gifts

Encourage grandchildren to create handmade cards, drawings, or crafts. These personal and heartfelt creations are sure to bring a smile to any grandparent’s face.

Storytelling Session

Ask your grandparents to share stories from their past. Recording these tales can preserve family history and provide a deeper understanding of your heritage.

Play Games

Games provide a wonderful way to connect with those we love, creating memorable moments. We’ve come up with a list of 10 games perfect to play with grandparents and the whole family.

Check them out 👇

SETUP
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-4 / Duration: 15–30 minutes

If your grandparents love traditional card games, they’ll love SETUP. An innovative game in the Rummy genre, SETUP is a simple game of tile placement, with sets progressing in all directions. Players combine familiar suits and numbers on the board to score points and complete their sets before opponents. A perfect addition to Grandparents’ Day.

Chromino
Age: 6+ / Players: 1–8 / Duration: 30–45 minutes

A colourful alternative to traditional dominoes, Chromino is a great game to play with Grandma and Grandpa. Each player in turn places a chromino on the board, making sure to connect 2 squares of the same colour. The first player to place all their chrominoes wins the game. Pretty simple, right? Sure, but your opponents will try to block you, so keep your wits about you. A simple, but surprisingly addictive game!

Azul
Ages: 8+/Players: 2–4/Duration: 30–45 minutes

A stunning game of light strategy, perfect for family game day, Azul challenges you to decorate the Royal Palace of Evora with beautiful ornamental tiles. You can score extra points by creating specific patterns or completing sets. But you can also lose them by wasting tiles. Fittingly, the player with the most points wins!

Ticket to Ride
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-5 / Duration: 45-60 minutes

One of the most popular modern board game series ever launched, Ticket to Ride is a beautifully illustrated title that sees players embark on a cross-country train adventure. The game is simple to learn, fun to play, and keeps players engaged by requiring continuous strategic thinking and a dose of opportunism. But, despite keeping players on their toes, Ticket to Ride won’t overwhelm the uninitiated, one reason it appeals to both new and seasoned players and makes a perfect option for game day with the grandparents.

Play Nine
Age: 8+ / Players: 2-6 / Duration: 30-45 minutes

Play Nine is a golf-themed card game that is perfect for a casual game night. Just like your golf swing, there’s plenty of chance in this golf game with a mix of strategic elements that’ll have your group entertained for hours. With easy-to-learn instructions, you’ll have everyone, including the grandparents, playing in no time.

Word Traveler
Age: 14+ / Players: 2-5 / Time: 30-45 minutes

Take Grams & Gramps on a trip around the world, with Word Traveler! Plan your route and pick the best clues to get around the city! In Word Traveler, you and other players are taking a 2-day trip to an exciting new city! Each player has a secret map of locations they want to visit, and they’ll need help from the other players to reach them.

Access+, Making Games Accessible

If you have a grandparent or other loved one living with a cognitive disorder, such as Alzheimer’s, autism, or mental health conditions… they can still enjoy the fun and benefits that board games can provide. Launched in 2022, Access+ is a studio that designs games that stimulate cognitive functions, spark positive emotions, and foster social ties, while allowing players to discover or rediscover the pleasure of playing together. Working with healthcare professionals, Access+ studies the benefits games can offer (cognitive, emotional, social, behavioural…). The games with the most relevant benefits are then selected, their materials reworked and adapted to make the games accessible to as wide a range of people as possible.

Spot it! / Dobble Access+
Age: 6+ / Players: 1-4 / Time: <15 minutes

Dobble Access+ remains true to the game’s original version: Players must find the symbol in common between their card and the drawn card. The adaptions allow everyone to play together and have a great time. The cards and symbols are bigger for easier handling and recognition and progressive levels of difficulty are proposed in the rules to make the game as accessible to as many people as possible.

Cortex Access+
Age: 8+ / Players: 1-4 / Time: <15 minutes

The instructions are the same as in the original game: Win the challenges to win the game. The adaptions allow everyone to play together and have a great time. The cards are bigger for easier handling, the challenges were carefully selected to make them accessible to as many people as possible, an answer booklet was added to make caregivers’ work easier and two levels of difficulty are proposed in the rules.

Timeline Access+
Age: 8+ / Players: 1-4 / Time: <15 minutes

This version has the same instructions as the original game: Players create a timeline by placing the cards they draw in the correct order of the events depicted on them. The adaptions allow everyone to play together and have a great time. The cards are bigger for easier handling, the events were carefully selected to make them accessible to as many people as possible and a pack of Personal Experiences cards has been created specifically for the Access+ version so that players can look back on events in their own life.

Dixit Universe Access+
Age: 8+ / Players: 1-4 / Time: 15-30 minutes

Dixit Universe Access+ adapts the mechanics of Dixit and Stella: players draw a Word card and then vote for the illustrations that best match it, either individually or as a team. In this way, everyone can enjoy Dixit’s superb illustrations and their evocative, dreamlike aspects. The cards have been carefully selected and divided into two levels of complexity, and two game modes are proposed in the rules to make the game accessible to as many players as possible.

Grandparents Day is more than just a holiday; it’s a reminder to cherish the elders in our lives. The love and wisdom they impart shape who we are. So, take this opportunity to make your grandparents feel special, appreciated, and loved.

Happy Grandparents’ Day!

Liked these games? Find out where you can find them, here.