Grandparents are truly one of the greatest influences in a child's life. With their unconditional love and support, they are simply a joy to have around. Very often in our busy lives, we take out the time to appreciate them, and let them know how much they mean to us. Although we treat them with utmost respect, there is also a special day to celebrate their presence in our lives. The national Grandparents' Day is celebrated in the United States and Canada on the first Sunday after Labor Day. That is, for the years 2014, 2015, and 2016, the dates for celebrating this day will be the 7th September, 13th September, and 11th September respectively. You could arrange a number of fun activities for your children and their grandparents to enjoy. Moreover, you can suggest some handmade crafts to your kids to make for their grandparents, as a token of their love and affection. Handcrafted gifts can be very innovative and extremely adorable; they are guaranteed to touch the hearts of the doting grandparents. Check out some very simple ideas shared below, which would also provide you with some bonding time with your kids. Easy Crafting Ideas Pill Box A pillbox is a very affectionate gesture to the senior citizens. Help the kids to use cardboard, hard plastic planks, or Styrofoam to make a seven-compartment box. Create separate lids for each compartment, with Velcro patches or press-buttons to close them. Spray-paint the pillbox, and label the lids with the days of the week. Decorating the box with personalized messages like "Love you Grandma" or "It's Wednesday Grandpa, don't forget your medicine!", would be a good idea. Hand the kids some sparkle pens, colorful paper cuttings, and beads to make the pillbox look more attractive. Handmade Scrapbook Making a scrapbook is a very creative activity for children. In case you wish to make things a bit easier for the kids, you can provide them with a scrapbook kit as well. Try to get the scrapbook in a hardbound or laminated cover so that it can be cherished forever. To make it a warm memorabilia of all the fond memories, you can: ☆ add old photographs taken with them ☆ write beautiful poems and quotations about grandparents ☆ include personal messages from all members of the family ☆ draw a family tree with photographs ☆ use hand or footprints of the babies in the family Pen Stands All you need for making these is empty tin cans. Remove the lids, and ensure that they do not have sharp edges. We do not want to spoil the fun with the kids getting injured. The kids can then wrap these cans in colored paper or papier mâché, and decorate them further. They can also stick paper flowers around them, or write messages to their grandparents. Bookmarks You can make this task easier and more innovative for the kids. Make them pose for pictures in a crazy manner. Once those pictures are developed, ask them to cut their figures out from the photographs. They can then attach pieces of ribbon or colored thread on top to make bookmarks. Everytime grandma or grandpa open their book, these bookmarks will remind them of their little pranksters. Personalized Flowerpots This will have your kids going crazy with their paintbrushes and colors. Buy earthen pots for small plants, and leave the kids at it. They can paint these pots the way they want, add their fingerprints to make patterns of butterflies or flowers. Tell them to keep the pots in the sun to dry, once they are done. Let them plant grandma's favorite flowering shrub in the pot to surprise her. Bottle Cap Magnets You never understood why children loved to collect bottle caps? Now, you can put those to use. The kids can stick small magnets on them, and stick small photographs on the other side. They can even use clay to cut out star, or heart-shaped pieces with engraved messages to stick on the bottle caps. Other Keepsakes For kids who are not much patient when it comes to crafting, they can merely go for customized bags, caps, or t-shirts made using fabric paint, and other decoration accessories. They can even personalize coffee mugs, photo frames, and other utility items with printed messages like " World's Greatest Grandpa" or "Super Granny". Other easy-to-make gifts are origami wallets, paper flowers, or even corsages made using real flowers. These keepsakes will not only be fun to make for the kids, but will also be appreciated by the doting grandparents. These sweet little efforts alone are enough to overwhelm them. Nothing will make a granny happier than carrying around her personalized tote that says "World's best Grandma", while grandpa will proudly flaunt his handmade bookmark at the reading club.