Our school usually has a Granparents-Special friend day in January. We are looking for some ideas other than the "Cafeteria fundraiser"it seems to be now, without an all day disruption.

At one of our elementaries they had the grandparents (or special relative) come to the school around 1:00 pm They are greeted at the door by some fifth graders who welcome them, give them programs and direct them to the gym.
Once seated in the gym they are entertained by the choir, for a short but lovely program. Of course the Principal goes on for awhile about our wonderful school, kids and staff.
The grandparents then visit their students class in an Open House type situation. It usually ends about 2:30-2:45 and the students who have had permission forms signed may leave early with the grandparent.

During our grandparents day, the grandparents arrive at the same time and are taken into the gym where the students put on various skits for them. Afterwards, their grandchildren are asked to stay with them and they are given a book to read with their grandchildren. They get to keep the book too. We take their pictures with a polaroid camera and they get to take it home as a keepsake of the day.

Our school has a grandparents tea- which is held afterschool for one hour. Because ours is a special-needs school , it gives the teachers and therapists a chance to speak openly to the grandparents about the different things they do and the grampas and grammas a chance to ask questions. It's great, because the parents do not attend and so a lot of things that the grandparents quietly worry over get aired and the parents feel like the teachers do a great job of clarifying the issues our communication-handicaped kids have.

Our VIP day is a more traditional one- the VIP comes for morning meeting, snack and then either goes home or goes with the kids to the playground and leaves when the kids go back to the school. The 'big' kids do lunch with the VIP and then do a little play and then goodbye meeting.