Pro tips for buying your grandchildren the best gifts:

1. You should always honor what the parent doesn’t want their child to receive: What didn’t you want to be bought by your parents for your child all those years ago?

You know your child best and already know more about them as a parent than you do about your grandchild’s wishes. It’s acceptable for them to buy their child a toy gun or computer game.

But the same can’t be said for you. Sometimes, it’s tough to remember that some gifts are parent gifts. Your daughter-in-law or son-in-law might also see something worthy or overly valuable as a little preachy.

2. Age is critical: This is where grandparenting can be challenging at times. They generally know how relevant this is. But they can’t remember what age fits which toy, which can be stressful.

3. Fun is the key word: It may sound obvious, but a gift that helps a child or is useful or that the grandparent has fond memories of can work, but ONLY if the toy is, in its own right, fun for your grandchild.

4. Ages on boxes can be misleading: Generally, what looks like a recommendation is just a legally sanctioned lower limit. “Age: 3+” generally means only “Safe for any age above 3,” and so on.

We know that there are very few toys that 6-year-olds love playing with that would work for a 10-year-old as well.

5. Packaging matters: Remember when you told your child all those years ago that they only had a single chance to make a first impression? It makes a difference if the gift ACTUALLY looks like a gift.

Something on a hangtag or something not wrapped affects any child above 3. Just be sure that the packaging doesn’t create a false expectation. An overly enormous box with a tiny toy inside: not so good!

Have you gotten any of these presents for your grandchildren? Let us know in the comment section what your experience was like!

And if you found this article on grandparenting useful, Retired In USA has many more just like it, including THIS one!