June 01, 2023

A second serving of bacon and eggs

June 01, 2023/ Lisa Carpenter

More than a decade ago, a clever grandma shared with me a recipe for bacon and eggs she assured me all kids — and most grownups — would gobble right up. One they’d enjoy helping prepare, too.

January 20, 2023

Easy peasy penguins

January 20, 2023/ Lisa Carpenter

With weeks (and weeks) of wintery weather remaining in many parts of the country, many a grandma may be racking her brain for ways to keep grandkids engaged indoors during visits. This easy, peasy penguin activity requiring minimal prep* may cut down on the cabin fever. For a little while, anyway.

April 09, 2021

Stroll with a goal: 8 ideas for walks with grandkids

April 09, 2021/ Lisa Carpenter

Spring has sprung! So put on your walking shoes, gather up a grandkiddo or two, and hit the road—or sidewalk, as the case may be—for one of these springtime strolls with a goal.

September 12, 2019

Gramma learns a lesson: boys and bracelets

September 12, 2019/ Lisa Carpenter

My long-distance grandsons have what they call “the home phone,” an iPhone Brayden, Camden, and Declan all have equal access to for communicating with friends and family (approved by Mom and Dad).

Occasionally my phone dings and pings over and over as I get a flood of gifs and goofy emojis texted from “the home phone.” As my grandsons don’t indicate who it is doing the texting, I have to guess according to what the message contains. If text is included, it’s typically Brayden …

January 14, 2019

Creativity Month 2019

January 14, 2019/ Lisa Carpenter

Did you know January is officially Creativity Month? Indeed, it is!

If you need inspiration and ideas for creative things to do with grandkids before the month is through, let me point you to the most creative spot I know for simple—and different, educational, and fun—activities. Krokotak, a Bulgarian site, has endless ideas for every season… and many for no specific reason other than finding joy in being creative.

May 10, 2018

Throwback Thursday: Entertaining grandkids... 3 sure things

May 10, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

This #TBT piece originally published May 18, 2016 on Grandma's Briefs. Thank you for reading!

As a long-distance grandma with visits being few and far between, I feel obligated to provide memorable merriment for my three grandsons each time I see them. I put careful consideration into packing my grandma bag with goodies and games and crafty ideas galore.

Sometimes the magical makings I lug 800 miles to my grandsons' door elicit exactly the enjoyment I'd hoped. Sometimes they fail. Especially if picking a Pinterest activity to try together without trying it first myself.

When I visited Bubby, Mac, and Jak last month, I failed at more than a few things. On the other hand, there were…

April 05, 2018

Throwback Thursday: 4 spring walks to take with grandkids

April 05, 2018/ Lisa Carpenter

This #TBT piece by Lisa Carpenter originally published April 21, 2015 on Grandma's Briefs.

Put on your walking shoes and head out with the grandkiddos. Here, four ideas for savoring spring while out and about.

April 27, 2015

Teach kids Morse code, plus GRAND Social No. 153 link party for grandparents

April 27, 2015/ Lisa Carpenter

Teach kids Morse code

Hard to believe but it's once again Morse Code Day! Yes, today is the beloved annual celebration of the birth of Samuel Morse (April 27, 1791–April 2, 1872), American painter, inventor, and co-developer of the international code bearing his name.

Do you remember learning Morse code in school? I do. A refresher: Morse code (according to Wikipedia) "is a method of transmitting text information as a series of on-off tones, lights, or clicks that can be directly understood by a skilled listener or observer without special equipment...Each character (letter or numeral) is represented by a unique sequence of dots and dashes."

international morse code