Grandparents are often the hardest people on the list: they need nothing, and many are trying to own less. These ideas focus on time, stories and things that get used up.
By the time someone is a grandparent, they have usually furnished a home, collected the kitchen gadgets and received a lifetime of scented candles. Many are actively getting rid of things. Margareta Magnusson's 2017 book The Gentle Art of Swedish Death Cleaning, about clearing out possessions in later life so others do not have to, became an international bestseller precisely because so many older people recognized the urge. A gift that adds clutter can feel like a chore.
What grandparents do want is clear from the research. AARP's 2026 study of 3,283 US grandparents found that most feel great joy (83 percent) and fulfillment (80 percent) in the role, and that three in four use technology such as texting and video calls to keep in touch with grandchildren. Half of grandparents aged 80 and over text. The relationship, not the object, is what matters to them.
Give time or attention. Gift researchers Cindy Chan and Cassie Mogilner found in 2017 that experiential gifts make people feel closer to the giver than material gifts do. For grandparents, closeness is the point.
Give something they can use up. Food, flowers, tickets, a subscription: things that are enjoyed and then gone add nothing to the cupboard.
Give them back their own stories. Older people often enjoy telling the stories of their lives, and researchers take this seriously. A 2023 meta-analysis by Zhong, Chen and Chen in Behavioral Sciences, pooling 32 randomized trials with 2,353 older adults, found that structured reminiscence and life review improved quality of life and life satisfaction. A gift is not therapy, but asking about their life, and making something from the answers, taps into the same thing.
A story gift sits between the recorded interview and the photo book. You write a brief, up to 2,000 characters: their name, where they grew up, the job they did, the place they met, the dog, the phrase the family still quotes. Pick one or two genres. Historical and adventure turn a life into an epic; mystery makes them the detective of the village; comedy suits the family legend. Novellum writes a whole novel around them, and only they receive it.
Because it is a book, it takes up no space on the shelf unless you print it. It arrives by email as an EPUB and a PDF, on the day you choose, with your message. If their eyes tire on a screen, the Short novel comes with a narrated audiobook for $7.99, and you can choose an older or younger voice.
Two practical tips. First, ask before you name living relatives in the story, and leave out anything private. Second, read the free page one before you pay, so you know the voice suits them.
Distance changes the list. Anything heavy or fragile is expensive to post and slow to arrive, and a parcel that misses the day is a small disappointment. Digital gifts solve that, as long as someone helps with the setup. Book a video call for the day itself and open the gift together on screen. Send a recorded message from each grandchild a week before, so the day is not the only contact. If you send a story or an audiobook, arrange for a neighbor or a local relative to help them open it on a tablet or print the PDF at a library or copy shop. Many grandparents enjoy a printed copy they can lend to friends, and a printed book that stars them tends to get shown around.
Finally, ask. "Is there anything you would like help with this year?" often produces a better answer than any gift guide, including this one.
Facts checked on 6 October 2026.
Questions? Write to us. Novellum books are written by AI, for one reader only.