At a time when many children and grandparents have been separated, it has made people realize how important grandparents are in their children’s lives and not just for the free childcare. Even if your parents are at the age where they need elder companion care and they can’t be much help to you, there are still many health benefits for them as well as developmental benefits for your children too.

Grandchildren Boost Cognitive Performance

Spending time with small children can be exhausting, but it can also boost cognitive performance in older people. A study by the US National Library of Medicine found that postmenopausal women who spend just one day a week taking care of their grandchildren have the highest cognitive performance among their peers.

Grandparents Teach Children To Respect Traditions

Grandparents can be great teachers when it comes to traditions, and they can help to connect their grandchildren to the past. Traditions help people to feel secure and to give them a sense of family identity. You can also make new traditions along the way, but keeping the old ones is lovely.

Grandchildren And Grandparents Help Increase Each Other’s Knowledge

When grandchildren and grandparents have a close relationship, they can expand each other’s knowledge base. Grandparents can teach their grandchildren life lessons and tell them stories about their lives and the rest of the family. The grandchildren can also teach their grandparents a lot by keeping them up to date with what’s new and help them with technology.

Grandchildren Help To Build Stronger Immune Systems

Children are always carrying around germs, catching illnesses, and eating and touching things that they shouldn’t. However, this can be a positive thing because spending time with grandchildren can boost your parent’s immune system, keep them healthier, and require less personal care.

Grandparents Can Greatly Reduce Household Stress

According to a study from Boston College, “an emotionally close relationship between grandparent and grandchild is associated with fewer symptoms of depression for both generations.” Children who have grandparents around means that they have more people to play with and have fun as grandparents can be the best partners when it comes to using creativity and imagination to discover the wonders of life. For grandparents, a study by the American Grandparents Association showed that 72% think that being a grandparent is the single most important and satisfying thing in their life.

Grandchildren Lower The Risk Of Depression

It will come as no great surprise to learn that most grandparents feel happier spending time with their grandchildren. However, it is more than just a good feeling as it can have huge benefits for their psychological health, and the closer the bond, the stronger the anti-depressive benefits.

Grandparents Can Be Great Teachers

Today, many families are time-poor, and because of that, there isn’t time to teach children simple skills. However, grandparents have this time and these skills, and they are often more patient than stressed-out parents. They can teach their grandchildren how to do tasks well and to do them safely. Things like setting the table, sewing on a button, pump air into their bicycle tires, fold towels or tighten screws are simple but also make a huge difference.

If you’re a grandparent looking to teach but also spoil your grandchild, you’ll enjoy exploring the following:

• Cool gift ideas for pre-teen boys.

• How to teach resilience.

• Learn to celebrate a child’s uniqueness.