Grandparents Day (September 12)

A School Activity for any Sunday

Yes, this is a Hallmark Card opportunity and falls too early in the year to be useful to Sunday School programming. However, a little historic background might inspire you to incorporate the idea for the school or classroom activity that follows.

In 1978, President Jimmy Carter proclaimed that National Grandparents Day would be celebrated every year on the first Sunday after Labor Day. It was the inspiration of Marian McQuade of West Virginia whose primary motivation was to reach out to the lonely elderly in nursing homes as well as get grandchildren to consciously draw on the wisdom and history that only grandparents can provide (you can find this and more information on the National Grandparents Day website)

Anyway, why not have Sunday School students connect with their grandparents’ faith? For a Grandparents Day at any time of the year, try the following.

1. A few weeks earlier, give each student a half sheet of oak tag to get a footprint of a grandparent by simply tracing the outline of their shoe.

2. Have them also ask their grandparents(s) the following questions: Where were you living when you took your first step? What was your first big step of faith? What person has made the most impact on your steps of faith? When you step into church, what’s the first thing you think and do?

3. Back in school, at an assembly or in class, kids can decorate or paint the footprint and print the answers to their questions next to it.

4. On your designated Grandparents’ Day, have sets of grandparents and grandchildren participate in Badarak, by doing the readings, passing the Kiss of Peace, collecting the offering, etc. On that day, hang the footprint posters on a wall outside your sanctuary or in your church hall. Invite the grandparents and all senior citizens of the parish to a special reception.

5. This might be a good opportunity to launch a service project, perhaps ongoing, with a local nursing home (and a handful of parishes have Armenian homes in their area) or elderly parish shut-ins.