A gift from Gogo: 9 Christmas gifts that help grandchildren learn their home language

Every December, gogos and mkhulus across South Africa ask the same question: what can I give the grandchildren that they'll actually remember? Toys break and sweets disappear by Boxing Day. But a gift that helps a child speak their home language with you lasts a lifetime.

Many grandparents tell us the thing they want most is to have a real conversation with their grandchildren in their own language. These nine gift ideas are affordable, easy to give, and turn the holidays into time spent learning together.

In this article

1. Why a home-language gift means so much
2. 1. Printable colouring and learning books
3. 2. A story in your own voice
4. 3. A family photo book with names in your language
5. 4. A traditional games kit
6. 5. Storybooks in your home language
7. 6. A cooking day and a recipe card
8. 7. Something with a story behind it
9. 8. A year of learning
10. 9. The gift of time
11. Make it a family tradition
12. Questions parents ask

Why a home-language gift means so much

Children who grow up speaking English at school often lose their home language quietly, a few words at a time. Grandparents are often the strongest link to that language, along with the family's stories, songs and history. A gift that brings you and your grandchild together around your language does two things at once: it builds their vocabulary, and it builds your relationship.

If you'd like more ideas for the rest of the year, read How grandparents can help children keep their home language.

1. Printable colouring and learning books

Colouring books are a gift almost every child aged 4 to 8 enjoys, and ours put home-language words on every page, in isiZulu, isiXhosa, Setswana, Sesotho, Sepedi, Tshivenda, Xitsonga, siSwati or isiNdebele.

Three of the books were made with grandparents in mind. The Summer Mzansi Played! (Xitsonga), The Day Gogo Voted (siSwati) and Gogo Paints Our House (isiNdebele) each include an Ask Gogo! interview page, where your grandchild asks you questions about your life and writes down your answers. It's a gift you open together.

Each book is a PDF you download straight away and print at home, as many times as you like, so one purchase works for every grandchild.

2. A story in your own voice

Record yourself telling a story, singing a lullaby or explaining a family tradition in your home language, and send it as a voice note or save it on a USB stick wrapped up in paper. Children play these over and over, and parents can use them at bedtime. For ideas, see Bedtime stories in African languages.

3. A family photo book with names in your language

Print photos of the family and write a caption under each one in your home language: who is in the picture, what they're doing, and what they call each other. Children love finding themselves in a book, and they learn the words for family members naturally.

4. A traditional games kit

Fill a small bag with five smooth stones for diketo, a skipping rope, and a morabaraba board drawn on a piece of wood or cardboard with 24 bottle tops as cows. Add a note: "Come and play with me." Then teach them the games you played as a child, using your home language as you go. Our step-by-step guide shows you how to play morabaraba.

5. Storybooks in your home language

There are more children's books in South African languages than ever. Book Dash offers free, beautifully illustrated storybooks in many South African languages that you can download and print, and Nal'ibali shares free stories and reading tips in our languages. Print a few, staple them into a booklet and write a message inside the cover.

6. A cooking day and a recipe card

Choose a family recipe, write it out on a card in your home language, and give it with an invitation to cook it together over the holidays. Naming ingredients, counting spoons and following steps is a language lesson that ends with something delicious.

7. Something with a story behind it

A piece of beadwork, a traditional blanket, a small carving or an outfit becomes far more special when it comes with its story. Tell your grandchild where it comes from and what it means, in your home language, and let them tell it back to you.

8. A year of learning

If you'd like to give something bigger, offer to cover a year of the Asifunde Nathi app. Children aged 2 to 10 play short games and listen to stories in their home language, and the Family plan covers up to five children's profiles. Set it up together with the parents, start with the free 7-day trial, and settle the plan once the family is happy with it.

9. The gift of time

The most valuable gift doesn't need wrapping. Promise a weekly call, a monthly visit or a Sunday afternoon where everyone speaks only the home language. Write it on a card as a "voucher" so your grandchild can hold you to it.

Make it a family tradition

Whatever you choose, the magic is in doing it together. A colouring page you finish side by side, a story you tell twice, a game of morabaraba on Boxing Day: these are the moments children remember, and the words they keep.

Questions parents ask