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The Games and Activities My Kids Use to Stay Virtually Connected With Their Grandparents
by
jenny albers
Getty / John Fedele
It goes without saying that the bond between grandparents and their grandchildren can be a tight one. It’s a relationship that can become a significant connections in one’s life, if fed and nurtured through quality time together. But if your family is like ours, distance and even health concerns can be barriers in helping our kids and parents form and keep a relationship alive.
Fortunately, we live in a time where technology can help relationships thrive, even when we aren’t physically together. For most of my children’s lives, we’ve lived far away from grandparents, but just because we’re distant doesn’t mean we have to be disconnected. Over time, we’ve gotten good at helping them form meaningful memories together, despite being miles apart, by keeping them engaged virtually. Keep reading for our favorite ways to do that.
Related: I Moved Into My Parents' Home to Self-Isolate, but We're Quarantined Separately
Getty / Thomas Tolstrup
Read Together
Books make for interesting topics of conversation and reading them together is a great way to connect, even when apart. My school-aged daughter loves showing off her skills by reading books to her grandparents via FaceTime, then discussing the story afterwards. The grandparents then take a turn reading to my preschooler, while big sister listens in, too.
Getty / Ariel Skelley
Schedule Interviews
Having lived through countless cultural changes and circumstances our kids will never experience, grandparents have seemingly unlimited amounts of information and perspective to pass on to our children. That’s why I help my daughter write out questions to ask her grandparents and then schedule a video chat for her to interview them. Not only does she enjoy learning fun facts about their lives when they were her age (no video games?!?!), but she gets to hear their perspectives about important historical events, too (think Apollo 11).
Getty / Justin Paget
Plan Game Nights
Thanks to technology, you no longer have to be in the same room to enjoy a good ol’ fashioned game night via video chat. My kids love challenging their grandparents to endless rounds of Bingo, Charades, and Pictionary over Facetime. When schedules allow, cousins can also be included using Zoom.
Getty / Bernhard Lang
Make It A Teaching Moment
Okay, I use the term “teaching” loosely. But my preschooler loves to video chat with his grandparents, so why not have them use flashcards to help him learn the basics like shapes, colors, numbers, and letters. Singing the alphabet song or other kid-friendly learning songs together can also be an added bonus for young kids.
Getty / Hello Lovely
Savor and Save Small Moments With Marco Polo
Marco Polo is a video message app that doesn’t require scheduled chats since it doesn’t have to be used “live.” My kids record moments throughout the day, and when their grandparents are available, they watch the video and respond as time permits. The best part about it is that video messages don’t disappear and can be watched over and over, giving kids and grandparents the ability to “see” and listen to each other whenever they want to feel a little closer to one another.