Over the course of the last few years, I’ve had the pleasure of doing quite a few presentations for groups of grandparents.
It’s one of my all-time favorite ways to spend my time.
Looking into a sea of grand faces always makes me feel so excited, knowing I’m about to help them with practical and meaningful ways to connect with their grandchildren.
But also because in these presentations, I get the chance to help them overcome specific challenges they are facing.
I usually get asked this question, posed in a variety of ways:
How can I connect with grandchildren of different ages at the same time?
They have a 4-year-old grandchild who likes to video chat, but their 12 year old grandson isn’t all that interested. Or sometimes it’s that they have a 9-year-old grandchild who wants to do different things than a 4 -year -old – on the same call! For others, it’s that the tween or teenage grandchild who gives one -word answers and isn’t all that interested in video chatting.
This is where the partnering piece to long distance grandparenting comes into play.
Asking older grandchildren to partner with you (help you!) with younger grandchildren is a great way to manage different ages in the family on the same call or to get tweens or teens to take the time to video chat.
There are times when the teens in our family only come to family video chats to see their younger cousins. But it works both ways. The younger ones want to show off their skills and play with their cousins.
And you can be the person who connects them through a well-planned video chat.
The planning of the call becomes part of the connection with your grandchild
It doesn’t have to be complicated – just something quick and easy to play, but the planning of it with the older grandchild becomes part of the connection.
You can reach out to an older grandchild and ask them to help you keep a younger grandchild’s interest on a video chat. Most people like to feel needed – and kids are no different.
You could suggest a quick one-on-one planning chat to discuss a few options. Your teen grandchild might have some great ideas about how to engage a 6-year-old on a video chat.
Scavenger hunt type games work well, such as Go Find Me… because you can brainstorm with the older grandchild about what you will send the younger ones off to find.
You could also suggest making up a quick quiz together about something the younger grandchild is into right now whether it’s soccer or dinosaurs.
Remember to keep the games short and sweet – it’s about the quality of the call, not necessarily the length of time you spend on the call.
