Every year, Grandparents’ Day sneaks up on my family and we always get our crafts out late. It’s on September 12 this year, so if we all start now we can surely get our acts together! Here are a few ideas to use this Grandparents’ Day.

Do a Play on Mother’s Day

If you’ve always brought Mom breakfast in bed for her holiday, why not do the same for Gram and Gramps? Make something homemade and delicious, like warm banana nut bread. If you simply can’t cook anything edible or if your grandparents enjoy eating out, take them to their favorite breakfast place—such as IHOP, Cracker Barrel, or Country Kitchen.

Chip In

If you don’t want to send your grandparents the standard handmade gift that you do each year (though they more than likely enjoy it very much), see if your siblings and cousins would like to go in on something big together—like a camcorder or camera. One year my grandmother’s family all chipped in to get her a big new television and she was shocked but pleased, too.

Take an Interest in Their Lives

Could you name your gran’s favorite food, color, or animal? Do you know where your grandfather spent his summers as a boy? Chances are that their stories will amaze you. Spend some time with your grandparents and find out more about them. Go to craft shows, book fairs, a favorite fishing hole, or wherever your grandparent chooses and experience his or her favorite things firsthand.

Perform for Them

Remember in the old days when kids were asked to sing or play an instrument for the adults as a form of amusement? (This probably still happens in some circles, I’m sure.) Play on this concept by asking kids to write their own plays, skits, or songs to perform for their grandparents. Have them do a live performance—and video tape it simultaneously—to give a lasting gift that is sure to be treasured.

Have a Sleepover

If your grandparents are the silly types who like to camp out in the backyard (or inside within a homemade fort!), invite them over for an old-fashioned sleepover. Watch “scary” movies (such as Monsters, Incorporated) with your children and pop some popcorn on the stove or roast some s’mores outside. Ask them to tell stories—or make up stories together as a family. Hold a talent show and see what kinds of surprises await you. (My mother, for example, can wiggle her ears, much to the amazement of my daughter!)