Gifts for the elderly?

[vanillacourage]

My grandparents are both 90 years old and live in an independent living facility in a one-bedroom apartment.  They don't have space for a lot of "stuff".  What they love most in life are my two kids, but I can't give them framed pictures for every occasion, due to above. 

Any gifts you've given to the elderly in your lives that have been a big hit?  A few things I was thinking of:

-Harry & David subscription to fresh fruit delivery
-A large corkboard to hang on the wall, with a "coupon" from my older son for one piece of artwork each month

[Susie]

Photo calendar of your kids? (Which you can give again every year - WIN)

[shortstax]

My grandmother had a tree outside of her assisted living apartment. I gave her a birdfeeder for xmas one year and it was a big hit. She loved to see how many birds would visit it.

Could something like that work?

[ddi741]

I always got my grandmother a gc to the grocery store and the dollar store. 

[sproutmd]

I like the photo calendar, which I've done. This year I'm doing photo mugs of only great grandchildren, filled with Godiva chocolates. What about a photo blanket?

[Deleted]

Photo calendar!

[mbcdefg]

Grocery store gift cards

If they like to mail out greeting cards to their loved ones, then you could get them a big box of assorted greeting cards categorized by occasion (they sell pre-made kits if you don't want to DIY), a book or two of postage stamps, return address labels/stamper, and maybe a nice pen set.

[bbdoll]

Do they have a freezer of any sort? My mother always got my grandmother meat, divided up into meal size portions. Ground beef, chicken breasts, roasts, etc. She'd break the big packages down, so all grandma had to do was pull something out and thaw it.

[HoneySpider]

We always got my grandpa his favorite snacks, beer/wine, and a calendar. He loved it.

[Deleted]

MH's Grandfather gets fruit and cheese - unoriginal, but he really likes it.
My Grandmother gets chocolate or pjs.

[bunnysmom]

How well do they deal with technology? Because if they know how to use a laptop/tablet, I think that a great gift(though a bit pricey) could be a device that they could use to both store the kids pictures and to chat via skype/email with them.

But, as I said, I don't know how tech savvy they are. My inlaws are in their fifties and they barely know how to turn on their desktop!

[LoveTrains]

digital picture frame?

[heyrebekah]

Digital picture frame

[ladygrey]

Love the idea of a digital frame.

A basket of foodstuffs would be good too (coffee/tea/cocoa, jam/jelly, cookies, nuts, crackers, mints, fruit, etc.)

[ohgillian]

My friend got her grandmother this a few years ago and swears by it. Basically it's a printer that is connected to the internet without a computer, and if you email it, it automatically prints the message. There is an associated (free) service where you can schedule emails in advance, so she has it set to email a pic to her grandma every single day. And so it just pops out of the printer on its own and all her grandma has to do it pick up the sheet of paper.

I haven't used it myself, but I asked her about it because I was considering it for one of DH's grandma's. This is how i know that she raves about it.

www.presto.com/

[pedanticwench]

One year, I gave my grandparents something like this: www.target.com/p/caress-daily-silk-sheer-twilight-holiday-gift-pack/-/A-14749760#prodSlot=medium_1_24 & www.target.com/p/dove-men-clean-comfort-holiday-gift-pack/-/A-14750297#prodSlot=medium_1_2

They were nice gift packs of items they actually used, not the off-brand Bath and Body Works crap.

They both loved them.

[countthestars]

Fresh flowers?

[kathybela]

Dec 2, 2013 11:37:19 GMT -5 ladygrey said:

Love the idea of a digital frame.

A basket of foodstuffs would be good too (coffee/tea/cocoa, jam/jelly, cookies, nuts, crackers, mints, fruit, etc.)

If there is wireless internet available at their facility Kodak has a digital photo frame that you can set up with an email account and email photos to it. I got one for my mom a couple of years ago and she loves seeing surprise photos pop-up in the display.

[SJ]

We always do Harry & David sets. I also love the idea of a photo calendar.

[Velvetshady]

I usually send my grandmother (102, living in small room in assisted living)flowers and at x-mas I send her a small, decorated tree (usually from Harry and David). They brighten up the room, but are disposable. She doesn't eat much of anything anymore, and hasn't for the last ~8 years, so food doesn't work for her.

For DH's grandmother, we usually do food of some sort. Something that keeps for awhile or can be frozen for later (she still lives in her own home).

I also love the ideas of digital photo frame or calendar with your kids pics. I also love the idea of the corkboard idea--my grandparents would have all loved that from their grandkids.

[bbdoll]

I just came across this article if it helps.

www.stretcher.com/stories/11/11dec05k.cfm

[spk926]

I always send a nice centerpiece arrangement to DH's grandparents. They love it and when the season is over it goes in the trash. It's not another thing they need to hang on to.

[gt7301b]

I make my grandparents scrapbooks, they are a pain in the a$$, but they enjoy them.

[sweetredheadx]

What about a digital frame so you can upload new pictures each time you visit and they have numerous pictures to look at without taking up space.

[magdala]

My grandmother is 90 and mobile. She likes events best. We take her to see a show at the theatre. If you are being cost conscious, check out the shows at the local colleges. Last year we took her out to dinner and a jazz ensemble at the local college. She loved it.