Book-sticker activity kits aim to connect grandparents, kids

by Judy Stringer

Grandparents, of course, relish time with their grandkids.

Yet sometimes, older adults can struggle to connect with children or may want to ensure time spent together is fun and engaging – and screen free!    

That’s the position in which longtime Hudson resident David Grunenwald found himself a few years back.

“I was looking for a way to kind of crystallize my relationship with my first grandson and started researching some things but did not see anything that spoke specifically to grandparents,” he said.

So, Grunenwald, a “semi-retired” real estate developer, sat down and created a prototype of what would become the first in a series of activity kits called “Grandparent Merit Badges.” Each kit includes a book of 18 activities that grandparents – or aunts, uncles and great aunts and uncles, for that matter – can do with children. Those include things like “bake cookies,” “take a walk” and “visit the aquarium.” Colorful stickers denote when activities have been completed, and each activity includes space to write about the experience.

“And there’s a place where you can either draw a picture or paste a photograph of that activity in the book,” he said. “Whether they do one badge or 18 badges, the idea is that it stimulates your actions and thought process about how to grow in that relationship.”  

Grunenwald launched his first “Grandparent Merit Badges” kit last year. He and Development Director Terry Stephens have followed up with six more kits, each targeted to specific interests or hobbies. There’s a “Grandparent Merit Badges for Dog Lovers,” for example, and a “Grandparent Merit Badges for Gardening Enthusiasts.”

The kits are sold online at Amazon and grandparentmeritbadges.com and are stocked at Fair Trade on Main in Hudson. Grunenwald said that the kits became available on Amazon in June and about 1,100 books were sold in the last six months of the year.

“Now that we are on Amazon,” he said, “we’re off to a better start than last year.” 

In addition to providing a variety of activities for grandparents and grandkids to explore, the book kits are another way for Grunenwald to give back. Grunenwald is a board member of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society of Eastern Great Lakes. Three dollars of nearly every kit sold goes to that nonprofit, he said. Several of the books, however, are matched with other causes. A portion of the dog lovers kit sales goes to W.A.G.S. for Kids. Sales of a nature lovers kit benefit The Holden Arboretum.

“A big part of this for me is supporting philanthropies,” Grunenwald said. “I think that’s something else that resonates with our audience.” ∞

FEATURED PHOTO: David Grunenwald