Grandparents Day

[BabyPoppy]

👵🧓 September 13 — Grandparents Day

🇺🇸 United States • Family & Generations

📖 Learn About It

National Grandparents Day is a day to celebrate grandparents and the special relationships that can grow between different generations.

In the United States, Grandparents Day is celebrated on the first Sunday after Labor Day. President Jimmy Carter signed legislation proclaiming National Grandparents Day in 1978, and the first official observance took place that September.

Grandparents can be called all sorts of things: Grandma, Grandpa, Nana, Papa, Grammy, Gramps, Oma, Opa, Abuela, Abuelo and many more! What they're called often depends on family traditions, culture and language.

And families don't all look the same. 💕 Some people are very close to their grandparents, some never knew theirs, and some have chosen grandparents or older adults who fill that special role. Grandparents may live nearby, across the world, in the same house—or only in our memories.

Grandparents Day can be about celebrating any older person who has loved, taught, encouraged or cared for us.

✨ Did You Know?

🌼 The official flower of Grandparents Day is the forget-me-not.

🎵 The holiday even has an official song, “A Song for Grandma and Grandpa.”

👵 Marian McQuade helped lead the effort to establish National Grandparents Day. One of her goals was to encourage young people to learn from older generations and their experiences.

📖 Grandparents can be wonderful sources of family history. Their stories can tell us what school, toys, clothes, holidays, technology and everyday life were like when they were young.

🕰️ Try It 

Interview a grandparent, older relative or another older person you care about.

Ask them things like:

🧸 What was your favorite toy?
📺 What TV shows did you watch?
🏫 What was school like?
🎂 How did you celebrate birthdays?
🍪 What was your favorite treat?
🎵 What music did you like?
🎄 What was your favorite family tradition?
😜 What is something silly you did as a kid?

Write down their answers and create a memory tree with the information you gather!

🎨 Make It — A Hug in the Mail 💌

Make a card, drawing or little letter for a grandparent or special older person.

You could trace your hand and write:

“If I could, I'd give you a great BIG hug!”

Decorate it with hearts, stickers, drawings or forget-me-not flowers. 🌼

If your grandparents have passed away, you could make a memory picture instead—draw something you remember doing together or something that reminds you of them.

🌎 Around the World

Grandparents and elders are honored in many different ways around the world. Some countries even have their own special grandparents' celebrations.

For example, Italy celebrates Grandparents' Day (Festa dei Nonni) on October 2, while Poland traditionally has separate celebrations for Grandmother's Day on January 21 and Grandfather's Day on January 22.

 What do people call their grandparents in different languages?

👵 Spanish — Abuela
👴 Spanish — Abuelo
👵 German — Oma
👴 German — Opa
👵 Italian — Nonna
👴 Italian — Nonno

Feel free to share what you call your Grandparent!

[PrincessGraci]

Before my grandparents pasted away they were Nana and Papy. My niece and nephew however call my parents Gigi and Papa.

[BabyPoppy]

My grandma was Granny until I had kids, then she was GG (great grandma). 

[innerchildtml]

On 9/14/2026 at 12:54 PM, PrincessGraci said:

Before my grandparents pasted away they were Nana and Papy. My niece and nephew however call my parents Gigi and Papa.

I had a Nana and now my grandson calls my Nana and my late husband was pop.

[innerchildtml]

On 9/14/2026 at 6:04 PM, BabyPoppy said:

My grandma was Granny until I had kids, then she was GG (great grandma). 

I also had a granny too

[lillizzie24]

All of my grandparents have passed away. I was close to all of them. I had a grandma on my step moms side ( My step mom was mom to me and raised me) anyways she used to watch me since she lived down the road from me. She would buy me a soda and chips at the bar and then give me tons of quarters for the pinball machine or game machine, She would wait for me to get off the bus because she had dinner ready for me even though she knew mom would too lol.  She passed when I was 13 years old unfortunately. I had a grandma and grandpa on my dads side. I also spent a lot of time with them too.  They also watched me a lot too. I spent full summers twice with them. once to help grandpa after his heart attack the other to help when grandma broke her ankle. We went to their house for all holidays including Halloween where all of us grandkids trick or treated together. Grandma cooked huge holiday meals. grandpa loved western movies and judge Judy. I had a grandma and papa on my bio moms side. They lived in South Carolina but still stayed involved with my life even though my bio mom did not. We went and visited them 3 summers in a row. They sent me a card for all holidays  gifts for my birthday and Christmas. and called me and talked to me a lot.