Grandparents rarely want more things, but they do love a home that glows when the family comes round, and anything that brings the grandchildren a little closer. Here are 8 Christmas gift ideas for grandparents that light up the season, from a tree with a little train like the one they had years ago to their grandchildren's photos on a string of lights, with the sizes, power and batteries to check before you wrap them.
1. A light-up tree with a little train
Many grandparents remember a glowing little tree on the mantel. This one adds a train that runs round and round the base while the coloured bulbs and the star glow, which is just as much fun for the grandchildren when they visit. It is about 19 cm tall and runs on batteries, so it sits on a shelf, a side table or the windowsill with no cable.
Shown: light-up Christmas tree with rotating train, about 19 cm (7.5 in) tall.
2. The grandchildren on a string of lights
Print the year's best photos of the grandchildren, add a drawing or two, and clip them along a string of warm lights. Next time you visit, bring new prints and swap them; in December the same string holds all their Christmas cards. It runs on a battery box, so it can hang wherever there's a bit of wall.
Shown: photo clip string lights, 2 m with 20 LEDs, 5 m with 50 or 10 m with 100. More ideas: 8 easy ways to display Christmas cards.
3. NANA, PAPA or their names in lights
Marquee letters are sold one at a time, so you can spell whatever the grandchildren call them: NANA, PAPA, both with the “&” in between, or their first names. For NANA you need two N and two A. They stand on a shelf or a sideboard and can stay up all year, not just at Christmas.
Shown: light-up marquee letters, 22 cm tall, with a red heart and an “&” as extras.
4. Candlelight with no flame
Flameless pillar candles give the soft flicker of real candles with no flame, no smoke and no dripping wax. One remote switches all three on, dims them and sets a timer that turns them off after 2 to 8 hours and back on at the same time the next day, so the living room glows every evening without anyone reaching for the matches.
Shown: flameless candles with remote, sets of three in white, ivory or smoke gray.
5. A village they add to every year
Give one little house this year and another every Christmas after, and the grandparents build a village street on the windowsill, one house at a time. Each house is painted resin with snow on the roof and comes with its batteries, so it lights up straight out of the box.
Shown: light-up village houses: Snowy Chapel, Timber Cottage, Brick Townhouse or Stone Cottage, 6 to 9 cm tall. More ideas: 8 Christmas village display ideas.
6. Candles on the tree, like when they were young
For grandparents who grew up with real candles on the Christmas tree, wireless LED candles bring back that look without the flame. Each candle clips onto a branch and has its own battery, so there are no wires, and one remote lights the whole tree, dims it and sets a daily timer.
Shown: wireless Christmas tree candles, sets of 10 to 40, each 10.8 cm tall. How many does their tree need? See our guide to wireless tree candles.
7. A little tree for the windowsill
If they no longer put up a big tree, a lighted birch gives them the glow without the work: a white tree with warm fairy lights on every branch that stands on a sideboard or a windowsill from the first frost until the New Year. The branches bend into shape and it runs on USB or batteries.
Shown: lighted birch tree, about 60 cm with 24 LEDs or 63.5 cm with 144 LEDs. More ideas: 8 Christmas tree alternatives.
8. Lights on the house without a ladder
Climbing a ladder to hang lights along the gutter is the one job nobody wants Grandpa doing. A Christmas light projector covers a wall, a ceiling or the front of the house in moving snowflakes, Santas and snowmen with no ladder and no hooks: set it down, point it and plug it in. Keep it under cover, out of the rain.
Shown: Christmas light projector, 16 patterns, throws from about 1.5 to 5 m (5–16 ft).
Before you order: delivery and practical tips
- Delivery: free tracked shipping, dispatched in 1 to 3 business days and delivered in 7 to 12. Order by 1 December to have it in time for Christmas; you can also ship it straight to their address.
- Batteries: the marquee letters take 2 × AA each, the photo clip lights 3 × AA, the pillar candles 3 × AAA each and the tree candles one 1.5 V battery each; none are included. Put a pack in the box and fit them before you wrap it, so the gift works the moment they open it. The village houses come with theirs.
- Set it up for them: set the candle timer for the evening and show them the remote buttons once; after that the candles switch on by themselves every day.
- The village houses run on small button batteries. If young grandchildren visit, keep the houses and the spare batteries out of their reach.
- The projector needs a 5V/2A USB adapter, not a fast charger, and the adapter isn't in the box. The birch runs on USB or batteries.
- Not quite right? Unused items in their original packaging can be returned within 30 days of delivery.
More ideas
- Shopping for mom and dad too? Here are 8 Christmas gift ideas for mom and 8 Christmas gift ideas for dad.
- Browse all our Christmas decorations or our 12 Christmas gift ideas under $30.
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