I know this post is old but here are some ideas maybe someone will use. If you saved any of your kids Christmas artwork from school it would be cute to hang it somewhere so that the grandkids can see what mom or dad made for Christmas. I used to hang my kid's artwork on the pantry doors in the kitchen.
Also, you could decorate with kids in mind. You can make your kitchen look like Mrs. Claus's kitchen by having lots of gingerbread people figurines sitting around. Also, toy soldiers, Christmas bears, Santas, anything that appeals to kids. Buy a Christmas cookie jar. You can also fill pretty glass jars with lids with candy canes and Christmas candies. Of course, mom and dad decide how much they can have. You don't have to invest a lot of money, you can get little glass figures at the Dollar Store or thrift shops, antique shops. Cute stuffed animal Chirstmas decorations are cute too and you can set them around anywhere. Hang fake icecicles and snowflakes in the windows.
A small train track running beneath the Christmas tree would be a fun memory of grandma's house for kids.
Buy some Christmas books to read to them. The prettier the illustrations, the better. I found some really pretty kid's Christmas books at a Garden Ridge store last Christmas. You can get books cheaper online or,again,-the good old thrift stores sell books cheap and you never know what you'll find.
I started a collection of small ceramic angels that I display on an old glass perfume tray. I have been looking in antique stores and thrift stores for a couple of years and I have 14 little ceramic angels now. I don't buy just any one I see, it has to be one I really like and have something special about it. Some are old and some aren't. If you have a granddaughter you can show her your collection of angels and let her give names to them. Tell her they will be hers when she gets older.
I have also started collecting Christmas mice figures.
You could buy a small tree just for the kids and help them string popcorn and cranberries for garlands and decorate the tree together. Hang candy canes on it. You could buy some colored paper and yarn and have them cut out paper ornaments and color them with markers and put yarn through them to hang on the tree. Be sure to have them write their name and age on the back. Don't forget to play Christmas music and have hot chocolate and popcorn to eat while you decorate the tree.
Find a special Christmas plate to put out with cookies for Santa. The next morning have a half eaten cookie left on the plate and a glass with a little milk left in it sitting out.
You could try to find someone to dress up like Santa and make a surprise visit to your grandchildren. A friend of ours did this for our kids one year.
If you have a piano you could gather around it and sing Christmas carols.
You can buy something called Crackers for the table on Christmas day at places like Marshall's. In case you don't know, they are used in England and are tubes wrapped up in Christmas paper. They pop (crack) when you open them and there is a little prize inside.
If the children are older try taking them to a Christmas event where you live. We took the kids to Muppets on Ice and my daughter loved to see the Nutcraker ballet at Christmastime. There are free events too. Go iceskating. Drive through a light display or just drive around at night and look at lights on houses.
Rent kid Christmas videos. Find out if there is a live nativity display near where you live. Go to church on Chrismas morning.
Make Christmas about Jesus's birth and a time for family doing fun activities and enjoying all the beauty of the season and not so much about the gifts. I think that's the way to enjoy Christmas.
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