Christmas Gift Ideas for Grandparents

Buying for grandparents usually means buying for two people who share a kitchen, a couch and a lot of history. The best Christmas gift for grandparents is one they can enjoy together, ideally with the grandchildren somewhere in it. These 12 ideas are meant for the pair of them, not one at a time. Our top pick is a song about their life and their family, because it is something they will play for every visitor.

Hear a song made with Songbond

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry their names and your stories.

12 Christmas gift ideas for grandparents

1. A song about the two of them ($39.90). How they met, where they lived, the grandkids' names and the Sunday dinners. Songbond turns your stories into an original song, ready within 24 hours.
2. A date night out. Dinner and a show, or a movie and dessert. Book it, pay for it and offer them a ride. About $80 to $200 for two.
3. A bird feeder for the kitchen window. Add a field guide for your region and a small notebook to log visitors. It gives them something to watch together every morning. Usually $40 to $90.
4. A recordable storybook. They read a picture book aloud, their voices are saved, and the grandkids can hear them at bedtime from any distance. About $25 to $45.
5. A fruit tree for their yard. Plant it together in spring, and the grandkids will pick from it for years. Usually $40 to $120.
6. A year of the grandkids in one photo book. A page for every month, with a short caption about what happened. About $30 to $70.
7. An engraved cutting board. The family name and the year they married, cut into the wood. It will come out on the counter every Christmas after this. Usually $40 to $90.
8. A card game for the holiday table. Something easy enough for a six-year-old and tricky enough for grandpa. About $15 to $30.
9. A pocket brag book. A small album of grandkid photos that fits in a purse or a coat. Expect it to come out in the pharmacy line. About $15 to $30.
10. An evening driving past Christmas lights. Pack hot chocolate and the grandkids, and let someone else drive.
11. A monthly pie or cheese club. A treat on the doorstep every month, easy to share over coffee. Usually $30 to $60 a month.
12. A picnic basket for spring. A basket with plates, cups and a blanket, ready for the first warm day of spring. Usually $50 to $120.

How to choose a gift they will both enjoy

Look for the overlap: what they already do together. Buying for the space they share, like the kitchen, the yard or the car, means neither one feels left out.

• If they are homebodies: the bird feeder, the card game or the pie club.
• If they are still on the go: the date night, the picnic basket or the Christmas lights.
• If the grandkids live far away: the recordable storybook, the photo book or the song.

Start a Christmas tradition with them

The gift that grows in value is the one you repeat. Take a photo of the grandparents with every grandchild on the same couch each Christmas, in the same order, and frame the new one next to last year's. Or ask them one question each year, like "What was Christmas like when you were ten?", and write the answer in a notebook that stays in their house. In ten years that notebook will be the thing everyone wants to read, and it will hold their voices long after the gifts are forgotten.

Make a song for your grandparents

Create a song about your grandparents this Christmas. It is ready within 24 hours, and express delivery gets it to you in about an hour, with no shipping and no cutoff date.

Also in the Journal: songs for Grandparents Day and a personalized song as a Christmas gift.