Are you a chair grandpa, or a floor grandpa?
There are two kinds of grandparents. I decided a long time ago which kind I wanted to be.
The chair grandparent
- Watches from across the room
- “Be careful.” “Not so loud.” “Go show your mother.”
- Hands out the gift, then sits back down
- Always a little distance between them and the kids
- Gets a polite hug at the door
The floor grandparent
- Down on the carpet, in the thick of it
- “Hand me that elbow joint. Now YOU try.”
- Builds it, tests it, loses at it, builds it again
- Close enough to see the face when it works
- Gets asked, “When are you coming back?”
Chair grandparents love their grandkids every bit as much. But there’s always distance: the width of the room, the height of the chair, the space between watching and doing. Kids feel that distance. They don’t remember who watched. They remember who got down on the floor with them.
That’s The Floor Grandpa. It’s not about age, knees, or being handy. It’s about closing the gap.
Where this started
About fifteen years ago, on Christmas Eve, I drafted my eleven-year-old daughter into service. Three sealed envelopes, each one inside the next, turned a day of waiting into a top-secret operation to track Santa’s sleigh. She still talks about it. That mission became Operation: Santa Tracker.
Around the same time, a stick of PVC pipe and a bag of mini marshmallows turned into a whole summer of backyard battles. That one became Operation: Marshmallow Marksman.
Neither one took special skills. They took getting off the couch and having a plan. So that’s what I make: the plan.
What you’ll find here
- Projects a grown-up can set up in minutes. I’ve done the trial and error, so you get the fun part.
- Printable kits from our Etsy shop, with every step written down and the grown-up-only jobs clearly marked.
- A supply list for every project with exact sizes, so you buy the right thing the first time.
- Safety first, always. Supervision notes and age guidance are built into every project.
- For grandmas, dads, moms, aunts and uncles too. “Floor Grandpa” is a state of mind.
Why you won’t see my face
You’ll see my hands and hear my voice in the videos. The kids are the stars, and I keep their faces and names off the internet. You’ll want to do the same.
Say hello
Ran one of the missions? Tell me how it went: hello@thefloorgrandpa.com.
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