Fun Freetime: How To Create a Fun Scrapbooking Day With Grandma

 How To Create a Fun Scrapbooking Day With Grandma 

Does Grandma have a collection of memories scattered around the house? Or perhaps all of your latest vacation photos are stored in a hard drive where Grandma can’t enjoy them?

Treat Grandma to a special scrapbooking day where you can go over your memories together and make them into a work of art your entire family can share and enjoy. 

Preserve Family Memories

Don’t leave Grandma’s photographs to suffer the winds of fate. Invest in museum quality scrapbooking supplies to preserve beloved photographs for the years to come. 

• Splurge on the photo album. The biggest part of preservation is the storage container the memories will be living in. Invest in a well-made photo album to withstand the viewing of multiple generations. 
• Look for acid-free paper. Avoid any chance of Grandma’s pictures fading or turning into dust with archival quality scrapbooking paper. For an extra layer of precaution, invest in acid-free paper sleeves. 
• Store out of sunlight. Direct sunlight can fade and damage photographs beyond repair. Keep the family memories safe by storing the completed photo album on a bookshelf or table away from the window. 

Learn Your Family History 

Creating a scrapbook with Grandma is the perfect time to learn about your family history. Preserve those stories by writing them down or recording them as she tells them. 

• Share old family stories. Grandchildren love to hear stories about their parents and grandparents as young children. Take turns with Grandma sharing stories about your growing up. 
• Play music from a different era. Listen to popular music from Grandma’s childhood or traditional songs from her hometown. Encourage a conversation about the similarities and differences with music today.
• Give the grandchildren a sense of pride. Family culture and heritage play an important role in shaping identity while growing up. Looking at Grandma’s pictures will help bring the family stories to life. 

Create Multiple Family Albums

Grandma’s memories and your latest vacation photos don’t need to be crushed into the same album. Have different photo albums for each of the memories being preserved. 

• Make multiple copies of photos. It’s easy to scan and print out multiple copies of pictures. You and Grandma will both be able to create an album for the same memory without worrying about splitting up photographs.
• Add labels for easy identification. Avoid confusion at the end of the day by clearly labeling the sides of the photo albums. You won’t have to stress about grabbing the wrong album when it’s time to go home.  
• Send albums to distant family members. Does Grandma want Cousin Ted to have his own photo album too? Offer to send an album to any distant relative that Grandma would like to share the memories with. 

Create New Memories 

Before you know it, the grandchildren will be having a great time creating special memories with Grandma. The new scrapbooks are sure to turn into prized family possessions, and the memories of creating them will last for years to come.

Tracy Layden is a Certified Aging in Place Specialist. Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Tracy leads the marketing efforts at Alert-1, a medical alert company dedicated to helping seniors live safely and independently. Tracy holds a degree in mathematics from Scripps College and is an accomplished ballroom dancer and equestrian.