An account is given of a series of drawings done by two boys (four and six years old) while staying with their grandparents. These are considered within a child development framework emphasising the place of context and the socio-cultural theory of Wertsch. Context is explicated through looking at how household, local culture, mediated action and children's drawings can be connected. Links are made with the Early Years Foundation Stage and the championing of parent-teacher links within effective practice. Grandparenting is partly located within the generativity-stagnation arguments of Erikson in adult development. (Contains 14 figures and 3 notes.)