By Steve Moran

While at Senior Living 100 a few weeks ago, I heard something from the state that has been rattling around in my head as a brilliant idea. I have not been able to stop thinking about it.

A couple of operators talked very specifically, but not very emphatically, about creating something that is brilliantly simple; something that will be and should be a trend. 

Building amenities that specifically appeal to grandkids. Here are some ideas … the list is really long.

Bocce ball courts (low barrier, all ages, very social)

  • Cornhole/lawn games area (permanent, weather-appropriate setup)
  • Pickleball courts (huge right now and work across generations)
  • Putting greens (outdoor, lower cost than a full simulator)
  • Golf simulator
  • Mini golf course
  • Shuffleboard (classic, and the residents already know how to play — instant advantage over the grandkids)
  • Horseshoe pits
  • Croquet lawn
  • Basketball half-court or adjustable hoops
  • Ping pong/foosball (should be in every real game room)
  • Pottery or ceramics studio with a wheel
  • Woodworking shop (supervised, tool-equipped)
  • Art studio with proper supplies, not just a craft table
  • Photography darkroom or digital editing station
  • Recording studio or music room with instruments
  • Cooking/baking demonstration kitchen where residents can teach grandkids family recipes
  • Soda fountain or old-fashioned candy shop corner
  • Drive-in movie setup (outdoor screen, golf carts as “cars”)
  • Jukebox lounge
  • Pinball machines (this deserves its own call-out from generic arcade)
  • Vintage board game library with the classics – not just chess but Stratego, Risk, Battleship, Mousetrap
  • Fishing pond, if land allows
  • Outdoor amphitheater for performances or movie nights
  • Fire pit/s’mores station

The big idea here is to create spaces that kids would actually want to be in and come back to over and over again. Imagine a bunch of kids becoming your brand evangelists, which of course would make their parents and grandparents brand evangelists, and which in turn would make your residents brand evangelists. 

It Seems So Obvious …

The more I think about it, the more I think this might be one of the most underexplored ideas in senior living.

Here’s how I see it: when you build amenities that grandkids love, you turn the resident into the destination grandparent. The one the grandkids beg to visit rather than the one they’re dragged to see. The one who has the cool stuff. The one who gets to host. The one who is, in the eyes of the most important audience in their life, the fun one.

Imagine what this will do for your marketing efforts. Imagine how much easier it will make the selling process.

Stop This

Right now, the conversation about moving a parent into a senior living community is almost always the same: an adult child trying to convince a resistant parent. It’s guilt-laden. It’s difficult. The parent feels like they’re losing something. The adult child feels like they’re taking something away. Everyone loses a little.

Everyone hates it!

Now imagine a very different scenario. The family comes for a tour. The grandkids see the golf simulator and the laser tag setup and the real game room. On the drive home, the 9-year-old says unprompted, with genuine enthusiasm, “Grandma, that place is so cool. Can we go back?”

It becomes a completely different conversation. The kid just became the most persuasive voice in the family. Not because anyone coached them. Because they genuinely want to go back.

And the grandma … who has been resistant, who has been telling herself she’s not ready, who has been hearing her adult child make logical arguments, then finding reasons to dismiss them, hears something different from her grandchild. She hears: This would make me more connected to the people I love most. Not less.

Downstream Impacts

There are downstream impacts that are huge:

  • The total number of visitors goes up, and when they return home, nothing but positive vibes.
  • The adult child who used to feel guilty about not visiting enough now has a reason to come: their own kids are excited about it.
  • The resident gets more regular, more joyful family contact. Family contact is one of the strongest predictors of resident wellbeing and satisfaction.
  • A community full of kids laughing on a Saturday afternoon doesn’t feel like a waiting room or a hotel lobby. Instead, it feels alive. It sends a signal to every prospective resident who tours that day: This is a place where life is actually happening.

I think about this from my own life. My grandkids are important to me. The idea of being the grandparent they can hardly wait to see is huge.