How grandparents and grandchildren can stay connected during COVID-19

Grandchildren are the light of every grandparent’s life, and it is vital to maintain the grandchild-grandparent bond. One of the most valuable ways grandparents can keep that bond strong is play. Play has been proven to be crucial to young children’s development, as it encourages creativity, dexterity, and emotional and mental strength. On top of that, regular contact with grandchildren has been shown to improve the health and happiness of older adults and seniors.

Maintaining that connection has been made more difficult during Covid-19, when families have had to maintain distance due to health concerns. Fortunately, there are virtual ways that grandparents can play with their grandchildren. This article lists some of the best options to play fun games and spend precious time together in anticipation of a return to normalcy.  

Skribbl.io

Love Pictionary? It’s a simple game, easy for children to grasp, and is fun for the whole family. Skribbl.io is just like Pictionary, but in online format. However many people you want can start a game. Each person has a certain amount of time to draw a word or phrase, then everyone else has to type in guesses until someone gets it right.

To play, visit the skribblo.io website and type in a name to play with. Click the blue “Create Private Room” button. Next, there will be some game settings you can adjust, including how many rounds you want, how long each person gets to draw, and a place to add custom words if you want to include them. Scroll to the bottom of the page and you should see the heading “Invite your friends!” with a link below it. You can copy and send that link to your family members so they can join the game you created!

Skribbl.io is great because many or just a few people can play, and you don’t need an account or subscription to play. Just have someone create a game/private room and enjoy the game!

Chess, Checkers, Backgammon, Go Fish, and more via Playingcards.io 

This website is similar to Scribbl.io in that you simply need to visit the website, create a game, share the link, and you’re ready to play.

Instead of Pictionary online, Playingcards.io offers a variety of card games (and some board games), including backgammon, chess, checkers, a matching card game, and Go Fish. Each game has an easy-to-use layout, making it simple to learn for all ages.

To play, visit playingcards.io and scroll down to the heading “Pick a game to create a room” and click on one of the available games. Playingcards.io will automatically give you a link to share with the other players, and then you can click “Enter.” Once everyone joins, the game can begin!

Take these games to another level

The websites offered above are all fantastic ways to play with grandchildren, but there is one vital way to make them even better: having a phone or video call going while playing. While these websites give a way to play the game by providing a virtual card deck and table, the real heart of playing with others is interacting with them directly. Even with Pictionary, where one person must be silent, part of the fun is having the other players encourage the one drawing or make an incredulous sound when the answer is revealed. It’s easy to set up a video or phone call, and the fun it adds to any game is invaluable.

Other games you can play virtually 

So far we’ve covered websites that facilitate playing already common games online, but there’s no need to stay limited to those mediums. There are plenty of games that can be played with just a video call and some creativity. 20 Questions, for example, is a very popular game that can be played over a video or even phone call.

I Spy can also be recreated virtually. You can share a picture, any picture with lots of colors and objects, with your grandchild through email, sharing your screen over zoom, or other similar methods, and over phone or video call play I Spy with the scene in the picture. Click here or here to see some examples of images you could use for I spy (of course you could choose images that would be less or more difficult for I Spy, depending on your preference and the age of the other players). Games that rely mostly on two or more people talking are the best to try virtually. You can probably think of many more games that are easily transferable to a virtual format. 

In the end, these games are simply ways to connect with your grandchildren in a fun way. You can also include parents, or more than one grandchild, to make it a fun event for the whole family. Strengthening bonds with your grandchildren and other family members is beneficial to both them and you, so check out any or all of these options and get to playing!

— Avery Tamura