Christmas Gifts for Grandma From the Grandkids

Grandma does not want more things from the store. She wants the grandchildren: their handwriting, their faces and their voices. The best Christmas gift for grandma from the grandkids is one every grandchild helped make, whatever their age. Our top pick is one song with every grandchild's name in it, because it holds the whole family in one place.

Listen to a real Songbond song

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry her name and the grandkids' stories.

12 Christmas gift ideas for grandma from the grandkids

1. One song from all the grandkids ($39.90). List each grandchild's name and one thing they do with her, from sleepovers to card games. Songbond turns it into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A handprint ornament. For babies and toddlers. Press a small hand into salt dough, bake it and paint the year on the back. Materials cost under $10.
3. Their drawings on a tea towel. Scan a drawing from each grandchild and have them printed on one towel or apron. She will use it every day. Usually $20 to $40.
4. A jar of reasons. Each grandchild writes or dictates reasons they love her on slips of paper. She can pull one out on a slow morning.
5. A calendar with a grandchild for each month. Give each one a month and let them choose their own photo. About $20 to $35.
6. A video from every grandchild. Ask each one to record 30 seconds about their favorite memory with her. Stitch the clips together and play them on the TV after dinner.
7. A coupon book written by the kids. "One free leaf raking." "One sleepover with no complaining." Let the kids invent the coupons and she will hold them to it.
8. A throw blanket printed with the grandkids' photos. Warm, washable and hard to lose. Usually $50 to $90.
9. A storybook about grandma. School-age kids write and illustrate a short story starring her, and you have it printed and bound. About $20 to $40.
10. A garden stepping stone with handprints. Make it in the garage over a weekend with a kit, one hand for each child. About $25 to $50.
11. Teen grandkids set up her phone. One hour to add everyone's photos to her contacts, set up video calls and make the text bigger. The teens are fluent, and she gets to see them more.
12. One photo with every grandchild in it. Grown grandchildren can chip in for a photographer so every grandkid is in one picture with her. Usually $150 to $400.

How to choose by age

Match each part of the gift to what that grandchild can actually do. Small kids make things with their hands. Older kids write and draw. Grown grandchildren bring money, organization and time.

• If they are under five: the handprint ornament, the stepping stone or the tea towel drawings.
• If they are school age: the storybook, the coupon book or the jar of reasons.
• If they are teens or adults: the video, the phone setup, the photo session or the song.

How to get every grandchild's part in on time

With cousins spread across different houses, a group gift needs one organizer and a firm deadline. Send one message in early December with exactly what you need from each family: a drawing, a 30-second video, one sentence about grandma. Set the deadline a week before you truly need it, because someone will be late. For the song, collect each grandchild's name and one small detail, like the card game they always lose to her. Let one person place the order so nothing gets doubled.

A song from all of them

Make a song for grandma from the grandkids. It is ready within 24 hours. If the last cousin sends their detail on Christmas Eve, express delivery gets the song to you in about an hour, and nothing needs to ship.

Also in the Journal: songs for Grandparents Day and Mother's Day songs for grandma.