Birthday Gift Ideas for Your Granddaughter

You want a birthday gift that says more than “from Grandma and Grandpa” on the tag. The best birthday gifts for a granddaughter are the ones only a grandparent could give: your time, your stories and something that grows with her. Below are 12 ideas that work from her toddler years into her twenties, with rough prices. Our top pick is a song about her, because it holds the small things you have noticed since the day she was born.

Hear a real song from Songbond

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry her name and your stories.

12 birthday gift ideas for your granddaughter

1. A song written about her ($39.90). You share her name, the nickname only you use and a few stories from your time together, and Songbond turns them into an original song. It is ready within 24 hours, and she can play it for years.
2. A charm bracelet that grows each year. Start with the bracelet and one charm, then add a new charm every birthday. The bracelet is usually $40 to $120, and single charms run $15 to $40.
3. A day with you that she plans. Give her a card that says the whole day is hers: lunch where she picks, the park, a movie, ice cream before dinner. Children remember the day they got to be in charge.
4. A storybook with her as the main character. Personalized picture books put her name and her looks into the story. Best for ages two to seven, usually $30 to $50.
5. Tickets to something she loves, with you as her date. A ballet, a children's theater show, a ball game or a concert. Dress up a little and make an outing of it.
6. A growth chart that stays at your house. A wooden ruler board on your wall, marked with the date every visit. It becomes a record of every year she came to see you. Usually $30 to $70.
7. An art kit with real supplies. Good watercolors, heavy paper and proper brushes, not the plastic set. It tells her you take her drawings seriously. Usually $25 to $60.
8. A monthly subscription in her name. A craft box, a children's magazine or a science kit that arrives with her name on the label. Usually $15 to $35 a month.
9. A savings account you add to each birthday. Open it with a small deposit and add to it every year. Show her the balance on each birthday so she can watch it grow.
10. A jigsaw puzzle of a photo of you two. Print a favorite picture of the two of you as a puzzle and do it together at your kitchen table. Usually $25 to $45.
11. A garden kit to plant at your house. Seeds, small pots and a pair of child-size gloves. She plants them on her birthday and checks on them every time she visits. Usually $20 to $40.
12. A dress-up trunk at your house. Fill an old suitcase with costumes, your old hats and scarves and a few pieces of costume jewelry. It turns every visit into a show. Usually $30 to $80.

How to choose for her age and her

Think about where she is right now, not where she was last year. Young children love things they can use with you. Older girls often prefer time with you, money toward something they want or a keepsake that feels grown-up. If you live far away, pick a gift that keeps you in her week.

• If she is under seven: the storybook, the growth chart or the garden kit.
• If she is between eight and twelve: the art kit, the dress-up trunk or the day she plans.
• If she is a teen or older: the charm bracelet, the tickets or the song.

Start a birthday tradition that is only yours

Parents handle the party. Grandparents can own something smaller that lasts longer. Pick one thing you will do on every birthday and never skip it: the same photo of the two of you on the same bench, a phone call where you sing to her before anyone else does, or a short letter each year that goes into a box she opens at eighteen. Tie it to the gift you give this year. If you start the charm bracelet, the new charm arrives with the letter. If you give the song, play it for her during the call. By the time she is grown she will not remember most of her presents, but she will remember that you never missed a year.

Make her birthday song

Create a birthday song for your granddaughter. Tell us about her, and the song is ready within 24 hours. If her birthday is tomorrow, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: song ideas for milestone birthdays and songs for Grandparents Day.