Grandparents are the fun central of a kid’s childhood! Use these ideas to connect with grandparents when you can’t see them regularly!

The Best Ways to Connect With Grandparents Across the Miles

Grandparents, the unsung heroes of any childhood. Who’s better at building LEGO than a grandparent? Who will read the same book aloud over and over without complaining? And an undisputed fact, no one makes for a better sleepover host than a grandparent! However, unfortunately for many families, grandparents and grandchildren are separated by countless miles. 

Our kids have spent most of their lives either living across the country or across the Atlantic Ocean from their grandparents. Thankfully we now live in an age where technology has a way of melting the miles away. What used to take a week to reach Denmark can now be delivered instantly via email. Phone calls no longer cost $1.30/ minute and we are not limited to see each other’s smiling faces on photographs.

(This post was originally published in September 2014. It was updated for accuracy in April 2020.)

*** In case you want to improve your relationship with your mother-in-law, this post on how to be the perfect daughter-in-law has tips we could all use! And then, of course, there are these super awesome thank-you cards for your mother-in-law. There is pretty much one for every family situation! ***

 

Our Favorite Ways to Connect with Grandparents

Staying connected with grandparents and keeping their relationship alive establishes a great foundation between grandchild and grandparent. But it also helps when the grandparents come to visit. The kids are familiar with their voices and they are a familiar face, even if it has been months since the last in-person visit.

*** In case you want to improve your relationship with your mother-in-law, this post on how to be the perfect daughter-in-law has tips we could all use! And then, of course, there are these super awesome thank-you cards for your mother-in-law. There is pretty much one for every family situation! ***

FaceTime, Skype, Zoom or Other Video Conferencing:

• Our kids know how to connect with their grandparents via FaceTime without our help.
• This gives them the freedom to contact their grandparents whenever they have news to share or wish to show them a new toy.
• The only downfall to this independence is that the kids do not always take time differences into consideration when they want to speak to their grandparents. My mom in Denmark has received a number of Facetime calls in the middle of the night from the boys – OOPS!

Calendar:

• Every year I make a photo calendar for the grandparents (and aunts and uncles) featuring pictures of the kids from the previous year.
• These calendars are a great way to keep our kids’ pictures in front of the grandparents, as well as sharing photos of them with the grandkids from their previous visits.
• This past year was the first time I didn’t make a calendar for the families, and I was reminded by both sets of grandparents… so I know what I need to do this fall before the new year rolls around.

School Photos:

• When our kids have their school photos taken, we always order WAY too many prints. First off, I have a hard time sending back any of the pages that are already developed.
• But we always make sure to send lots of pictures to each set of the grandparents, so they can keep current pictures in their wallets, on their refrigerator and where ever else they feel the need to display images of their adorable grandkids.
• I love pictures – so, therefore, I force pictures of my kids on our relatives – in hopes that they love them just half as much!

Schoolwork:

• Every parent with school-aged kids knows the mountains of paperwork our little hard working cherubs bring home from school. There are countless pages with helpless handwriting, poor spelling and half-dried glue mixed with pasta and sunflower seeds.
• There is a limit to the number of ninja drawings and spelling tests one family can save per child – or at least there should be.
• We have all tried to sneak the old math tests and spelling words into the trash without our kids seeing it. Well – you can stop that exercise now – instead… mail a few pages each month to the grandparents!
• Not only does it give you a good reason to get rid of the clutter, oops I mean masterpieces. But it also gives the grandparents a chance to follow along in little Jacob’s handwriting improvements and Jordan’s perfected ninja drawings. Win-win!

Traveling Journal:

• As the kids get older, this journal will become a cherished keepsake full of shared memories with the grandparents.
• Buy a pretty journal like this one. Start a dialog between your child and their grandparents by writing three questions on the first page.
• Eventually, as the kids get older they will write the questions, but while they are young, go ahead and get started.
• Mail the journal with the first three questions to the grandparents.
• Upon receipt of the journal the grandparents will write detailed answers in the journal – ask three questions and return the journal to you… and you get the idea.
• Before long, the journal will chronicle a written dialog between grandchild and grandparent.

Penpal:

• This idea has to be my favorite, and I am hoping it will take off as the kids get older.
• I recently had Jacob sit down and type up an email to his grandparents. I asked him to tell them about his summer. Granted it took him a long time to write just a few sentences, but it gave him great practice on the computer and occupied his little mind for a while.
• I emailed his message to both sets of grandparents without any further editing. It was not my job to spell check or correct grammar, this was Jacob’s correspondence with his grandparents.
• They all replied to him within a few hours, which was as instant gratification as we could have asked for.
• This is something I will encourage more of going forward. As they get older, it will be a nice way for them to connect with their grandparents – slowly melting the miles away.

*** In case you want to improve your relationship with your mother-in-law, this post on how to be the perfect daughter-in-law has tips we could all use! And then, of course, there are these super awesome thank-you cards for your mother-in-law. There is pretty much one for every family situation! ***

Online Games and Apps: 

• One of our kids is an avid chess player and it was my mom who taught him how to play. I have since her last visit set the two of them up to play against each other on a chess app. 
• There are countless apps that allow users to connect in various ways. Find an interest your child shares with their grandchild and connect the two parties via an app or online game. The two parties don’t need to see each other to feel a connection. 

What do you do to strengthen the relationship with relatives across the miles?