When I began to facetime with my grandchildren, I accepted the fact that sessions ended abruptly, that Plan A was not going to work for one visit, but worked for another. Age, hunger and fatigue determined how our time together would go and I would have to tailor it around those variables. Discovering what worked was a wonderful way to see my grandson as a unique person. I developed a list of ideas that I will share.
Plan ahead
If possible, plan a time. Seek the assistance of parents, have family meetings. Ask parents to have paper, crayons, or other activities near the child. Other times, ask parents to ready objects that are part of an activity you are planning. I also have put together kits of things to be used during our time together. The kits can be dropped off outside their home or mailed to them. I have dropped off stickers, simple art kits, and balloons. Make a mural with the stickers, place a roll of easel paper in your kit and have parents draw an outline of the youngster’s body. Hang and begin to fill with stickers. Place stickers in future “shipments” to continue to add to the mural. Simple art projects are great ways to keep a three-year-old interested and can be accomplished in a limited amount of time. If you begin you call and realize the feet you see in the screen are already tapping, enlist a parent to blow up a couple of balloons and see who can keep it in the air, blow it for the longest distance, or whatever comes to the creativity of the two of you. This includes drawing silly faces on them. Investigating simple science experiments to do with preschoolers provides other ideas for future kits. Coffee filters and food coloring make beautiful flowers. Explore the alphabet with fingerprints.
Have a show and tell prepared
Teach them about you and their background. Share pictures of when you were little, or better yet, share pictures of when your child, their parent, was little. Show them pictures of nature. When I hike, I take pictures of animals that I see. I have shared pictures of deer, a goose and her goslings, herons and gophers. We quickly talk about where these animals live, what they eat or what sounds they make.
Change venues
Have a mealtime or bath time call. With parent’s assistance, set up the computer or ipad outdoors. See how fast they can run across the yard. Watch them play in a sandbox.
Play games
If you and they have board games like candyland or chutes and ladders, pull them out and play. Other players can be added to the mix on either end. Draw a picture and ask them what it is. Have them do the same. Ask them to find something yellow, soft, etc. Know that sometimes they may get distracted and take a while to come back.
Read books together
Have your grandchild hold the book and turn the pages while you read. Watch book readings on YouTube or other video sources such as amazon.
Preschoolers give us energy, provide us with lots of questions, sometimes ones that we cannot answer, and allow us to tap our own creativity if we let them. I have provided some of the sources I have found useful in planning my video visits.