6 Ways to Connect
with Your  Grandchild

by Mary May Larmoyeux and Nancy Downing
  1. Ask someone to take a picture of you and your grandchild in front of a tree that is changing colors. Make
    it an annual practice to take a picture in front of that same tree on the same date (September 1, 15th,
    etc.).
  2. Labor Day is celebrated on the first Monday of September. With your legacy, research the history of
    Labor Day at your local library or at home online. Discuss various jobs that people have had in your
    family.
  3. Help your grandchild interview and record older relatives about jobs they have held. Take a picture of
    your grandchild with each relative interviewed.
  4. Go for a ride with your grandchild and talk about all of the jobs that you have had—even jobs that you
    had as a teenager. If possible, drive by companies where you once worked and point them out to your
    grandson/granddaughter.
  5. Grandparents’ Day occurs in September on the first Sunday after Labor Day. Show your grandchild
    pictures of your grandparents. Also write your memories of your grandparents and read them to your
    grandchild.
  6. Go for a walk with your grandchild. Bring back a couple of fall leaves for a leaf rub. You’ll need crayons
    and a white piece of paper (no lines). Place the leaves under the paper and holding a crayon lengthwise,
    rub the top of the paper with the crayon. The end result will be an image of the leaves and their veins.
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Mary is the author of Help for Busy Moms: Purposeful Living to Simplify Life and the
co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's
Heart.  She and her  husband, Jim, live in Little Rock, Arkansas, and have two married
sons and five grandchildren. Visit her at www.marymaywrites.com and read her blog for
grandparents.
Photo © Pavel Losevsky © dreamstime.com
© Nancy Downing and Mary May Larmoyeux. All rights reserved.
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He is like a tree planted by streams of water,
which yields its fruit in season
and whose leaf does not wither.
               Whatever he does prospers.                         
—Psalm 1:3
Adapted excerpt from The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect with Your Grandchild's Heart by Nancy Downing and
Mary May Larmoyeux.
Nancy has been an educator for 30 years and is currently a special education teacher.  
She is the former Center Director of LearningRx in Little Rock, Arkansas. She has
received local, state, and national recognition for her development of Downfeld
Phonics, a multi-sensory reading program.  Nancy also wrote curriculum for an
educational technology company.   

Nancy is a single mother of three children:  one with learning differences, one gifted,
and one who has to work for his grades.  Not only does she know what it is like to teach
all these different learning styles at school, but she has the experience of dealing with
all aspects of each twenty-four seven.  

She is the co-author of The Grand Connection: 365 Ways to Connect With Your
Grandchild's Heart.
Organized by month, The Grand Connection, includes easy-to-use ideas that will help grandparents and
grandchildren make lasting memories and build strong relationships. Here are six ideas for September: