Sure, buying gifts for grandparents can be daunting. After all, they have received just about every picture frame, cookbook and adorable coffee mug.
To make it tougher, if you ask them what they want, they most likely look at you, smile and respond with a sincere “nothing dear”.
But for the people who dealt with your sticky hands on their furniture, sent you money every birthday and sat through every unbearably boring band recital, there’s no way you aren’t going to try to find the perfect gift that they will love.
With the gift ideas below, you’ll find unique gifts that perfectly balance thoughtfulness and practicality. Whichever you decide, your grandparents will love it.
The Best Gift Ideas for Grandparents for 2023
1. Friendship Lamps Set of 2
These long distance lamps will help you stay connected to your grandparents no matter where they live. Give one lamp to them and keep the other for yourself, and make sure both are connected to Wi-Fi. Now, whenever you touch your lamp, theirs will light up, letting them know that you are thinking about them.
The lamps come pre-paired and can light up in a ton of colors, you can even choose a special color specifically for them if you’d like.
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2. Weighted Blanket
Made from 100% cotton, this weighted throw blanket features a 7-layer design that will offer the grandparents the ultimate comfort. It comes with a removable super-soft mink duvet cover that is pre-attached for even more warmth on the coldest days.
A great holiday gift that they’ll use all season, this blanket is one of the more thoughtful gifts you can give to make sure your grandparents get a good night of sleep.
3. LED Indoor Garden
Whether your grandparents have plants everywhere in their home or never had a plant before, this indoor garden will grow in their home beautifully.
It has a specially designed LED light that grows almost any plant faster and better, an automatic smart timer that makes sure the plants get enough light and rest and takes up little countertop space. It doesn’t come with pots or seeds so don’t forget to buy those and set them up if necessary.
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4. Vintage Bluetooth Suitcase Turntable with Speakers
Not only does this speaker look awesome, it’s highly functional. It will play the vinyl albums and records your grandparents may still have around and when the grandkids are over, they can connect to it via Bluetooth or aux-in and even has a headphone jack.
Extremely portable, the suitcase design features a handle for easy carrying from room to room or anywhere else your grandparents want to show this unique gift off.
5. A Letter Book for Grandparents and Grandchildren
A simple yet loving grandparent gift idea, this book will help you strengthen your bond with your beloved grandparents. Grandparents love this journal to record memories and notes to their grandchildren. The best part is they can gift it to their grandchild when they get older.
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6. Babyprints Deluxe Wall Frame
Most grandparents love the addition of grandkids to the family and this gift is a great way to make them feel close to their new grandchild.
It includes clay to create a mold of a baby’s hand and foot prints, a three-section photo frame for both sets of prints and a picture of the baby and a reversible background mat (pink and blue).
7. Senior Moments: Christmas
This holiday book describes the family moments that happen at Christmas and is the perfect Christmas gift for parents that love jokes and laughing.
A hilarious present that can provide joy and good times for the whole family, you may want to make sure you flip through a few pages first to make sure your grandparents’ humor matches with the book.
8. Sudoku Puzzle Book Subscription
Dell’s flagship Sudoku magazine! Spend just minutes learning the rules and enjoy hours of solving fun. You’ll find over 180 puzzles at four difficulty levels: easy, medium, hard, and challenger levels! This magazine is perfect for both beginners and more experienced solvers. Includes two jumbo issues.
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9. Digital Photo Frame
This digital frame features an eight-inch high-resolution screen. It can show pictures and 720p videos in the same slideshow, allowing for the best digital experience. The screen uses a high-resolution LED backlit display to show your pictures and videos in the best light.
The coolest feature of this digital frame is the motion sensing ability. The frame will turn on when you enter the room it is in and turns off when you leave that room. The frame also comes with a remote to be controlled how you want.
The frame also has a clock and calendar function, stereo speakers to play sound from the videos, and a full one-year warranty to cover any damages or malfunctions.
Savings Tip: Check out Walmart coupon codes for the best deal.
10. Roomba
This is a gift that your grandparents will love. A vacuum that does all of the work for them and is very efficient at its job. A Roomba delivers extra powerful suction for great pick-up performance. Roomba can also learn cleaning habits and offers personalized cleaning schedules for maximum efficiency.
The Roomba maps out your floor plan and cleans every part of the floor and won’t stop until it is finished. It cleans floors logically in straight rows, using tracking sensors to navigate through your home.
Featuring multi-service rubber brushes, the Roomba is perfect for pet owners. The rubber brushes adjust to carpets and hard floors. The high-efficiency filter collects 99% of pet dander and allergens.
Savings Tip: Get Best Buy coupon codes for the best deal.
11. Personalized Grandkid Names Pillow
If there is one thing that’s certain, grandparents love throw pillows. This personalized pillow allows for the addition of up to twenty-one names. If less than twenty-one names are entered, the names will repeat to fill in the heart design. You can choose from several different colors, sizes, and fonts for the names.
The pillow is offered in 14 by 14 and 18 by 18, 12 by 22 lumbar, 14 by 14, 18 by 18, and 12 by 22 in velvet. There are also eight colors to choose form for the pillow; burgundy, tan, navy, grey, coral, teal, multicolor, and multicolor pastels.
Different fonts are used throughout the design to make it unique. The fonts used include script, distressed, block, and others. This pillow will make a great decorative addition to your grandparent’s home.
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12. Our Family Recipes Book
Grandmas love recipes, cooking and baking. They always have the best recipes, giving her a place to write down recipes for future generations is a sweet idea that she will love. Knowing that her family appreciates her cooking and baking will light up her smile. This is a very thoughtful gift for her, and a wonderful gift that can be passed down generation to generation.
Savings Tip: Get Barnes & Noble coupon codes for the best deal.
13. Dog Playing Cards
An adorable gift for the grandparents that love card games, this deck of playing cards features pictures of different dog breeds on the front and the back of each card. Huskies, poodles, goldendoodles, corgis, and many more breeds are printed on the individual cards. The deck comes with an acrylic case to hold the cards when they aren’t being used.
Savings Tip: Get Anthropologie promo codes for the best deal.
14. Color Changing Photo Mug
The coolest thing about this specific mug is the color changing ability. When you pour hot coffee or hot water into the ceramic mug, the picture printed magically appears on the mug. When the mug is cold again, the picture will fade back to black.
You have the option to choose text only, one photo, one photo and text, two photos, two photos and text, three photos, four photos, or six photos and text. You can also choose different background colors to make this gift even more personal.
Savings Tip: Get Shutterfly promo codes for the best deal.
15. Custom Calendar
Snapfish offers several different types of calendars to customize; wall calendars, desk calendars, wood block desk calendar. You can choose different background patterns, add special dates with pictures, and add graphics to spice up the pages.
With the ability to add special dates to the calendar, it is easier than ever for grandma and grandpa to remember all the special dates for everyone in the family.
The sizes offered in the wall calendar are 8.5 by 11, 11.5 by 14, 12 by 12, and a 9 by 12 stationary wall calendar. The desk calendar is offered only in 10 by 5 and offers the option to purchase with or without a stand.
Savings Tip: Get Snapfish promo codes for the best deal.
16. Play Tickets
One thing that a grandparent will never turn down is quality time with their family. You can find a play that everyone will enjoy, gift some tickets, and have a nice night out together and make some great memories.
To make a night out of it, you can even take them out to a nice dinner before the theatre. Your grandparents will be the happiest they have been to spend a whole evening with the people who mean the most to them.
Savings Tip: Get Ticketmaster promo codes for the best deal.
How to Buy Great Gifts for Grandparents
You already know the gifts that you could get your grandparents, but you if you’re on this page, you probably want to skip over buying a t-shirt with a funny saying or another family tree for them to hang on the wall.
You’re in luck because this gift guide will make sure every gift you get for them, from now on, won’t go directly in a drawer.
The Golden Rule
Do you really think that your grandparents want the tacky presents that pop up in most lists? A “World’s Greatest Grandparent” mug is nice, but don’t you think they’d appreciate something a little bit more creative and tailored to their tastes?
The problem that most grandkids have when buying gifts for grandparents is that they assume that their grandparents have changed once they get a head of gray hair, yet younger people forget that their grandparents are most likely actively pursuing their hobbies and passions and exploring the world – the same as you are.
With that being said, here is the golden rule for you to follow: do not assume that your grandparents sit in rocking chairs all day knitting or watching TV. Get to know your grand parents before buying a gift, if you don’t know them already.
Rule #1 Get personal
Please don’t get your grandparents a gift that you’ve never heard them talk about or seen in their house. If you buy them tickets to a baseball game, make sure they actually enjoy sitting outside and watching baseball, don’t just assume that they’d want to do that (unless you and all the grandkids are there with them).
Think about hobbies they have and their complaints. Do they talk about getting away someplace for the weekend? Maybe a weekend at a bed and breakfast would be a great gift then! If their favorite singer is in town, get them concert tickets. If they like to read, get them bookstore gift cards or a Kindle.
Rule #2: Keep them connected
Many grandparents simply want to stay in touch with the people they love, which is why Alexa-enabled products that can make hands-free calls make great holiday gifts.
It doesn’t stop with gadgets though, if your grandparents have pay-as-you-go phones, consider buying them cell phone minutes!
Rule #3: Offer flexibility
Your grandparents are just like you. Rather, you’re just like your grandparents, so let them have some say on the gift. Gift cards are sometimes the best gifts to allow them to indulge in whatever has currently struck their fancy.
Additional family member gift ideas you might be interested in: