We are fortunate to have two sets of grandparents who live locally in Newton and Jamaica Plain. My 4-year-old daughter sees her grandparents several times a month — we trek into the aquarium or out to the zoo, we explore local spots, or we hang out at home with games. Here are some of our best ideas for sharing time with grandparents:

I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream

In Newton, my parents take our girl to Cabot’s Ice Cream, which has been around for generations and serves ice cream and sundaes along with diner fare like hamburgers and grilled cheese. It’s family friendly and the only spot I know to find bubble gum ice cream. Sometimes, when my girl spends the night with her grandparents, they walk around the corner from their house to Yogurt Beach, one of the many frozen yogurt spots that have popped up in the recent fro-yo explosion (what’s old is new again — feels like the early 1990s). Nothing conjures up fun like a heap of yogurt topped with frozen gummy bears — and they walk off the energy on the way home or at the nearby playground. In Jamaica Plain, with my husband’s parents, they might stroll to J.P. Licks or one of the many local cafes that serve delicious treats on and around Centre Street. It’s extra fun when they spend a few minutes at Boing checking out toys.

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Sorry, Go Fish, Jenga

Cabin fever happens, even at Grandma’s and Nana’s houses. One idea is to bring out the old and new board games. At age 4, my girl is just getting the hang of simple games and rules. Games are great for grandparent visits — and they really give her (and them) a chance to play together instead of sitting on the sidelines. Our best bets lately are Sorry (Grandma has the board my husband played on as kid), Go Fish (this set has hipster color names and now my kid knows what café au lait means — handy for ordering at Starbucks), Jenga, and a new favorite, Mr. Mouth, where flipping flies into a rotating frog face is great for up to four players.

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Paint and create

What grandparents don’t love a craft made by little hands? Why not have them join the kids for an afternoon of painting at one of many paint studios that have popped up all over the Boston area with adult- and kid-themed events and projects (try Paint Bar, Pinot’s Palette, or Art Lounge, to name a few). Or spend an afternoon at a paint-your-own pottery store, where you pick the ceramic piece and the colors. Most pottery shops require you to return and pick up your item later after it’s been fired and dried. We’ve had good experiences at Made by Me in Cambridge and at The Kid’s Place in Needham, and there are plenty of others to choose from.

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Read-along

We spend many a blustery or rainy afternoon at the local library. Grandparents can easily join for shared reading sessions. At many local libraries you can check out toys while you visit and play together. If you have weekday flexibility, try story times and other special events. This doesn’t require a library card, and it helps build that love of reading. In our little radius we enjoy the Robbins Library (check out toys, puppets, and a nice reading area), the children’s room at the main branch of the Cambridge Public Library (home to two adorable gerbils, Tallulah and Blanche, who have their own Facebook page), as well as those in Newton and Lexington.

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These are just a few of the things we do to have fun, share time with grandparents, and be creative. What do you do with local or visiting grandparents?