For many children, being on the same street as their grandparents, or even sharing the same postal code, isn’t always a reality. With families moving more frequently and over greater distances than in past generations, you may have to work harder to ensure that your children and their grandparents stay connected. Luckily, there are many great apps to help grandparents stay connected with their grandchildren. From playing games with each other, watching parties, or even reading bedtime stories, there are some really sweet options.
Yes, of course there’s always FaceTime – it’s always the best way to catch up on what’s been going on in the past week (or, if you’re like my mom, when my toddler walks around the house with his phone It’s always the best way to go. For older kids, Facebook Messenger Kids, phone calls, text messages – the usual ways still work but there’s some magic of being a grandparent, like letting the kids play. And watching movies, but disappearing after a long time. The joy of having grandchildren, like seeing them make weird art projects at school, can also slip through the cracks. But not for such apps. .
Zoog bills itself as a video storytelling app that aims to replace boring video calls for kids who aren’t good at making small talk and connecting with their grandparents on the other end. Read classic children’s books or tell riddles, stories or educational lessons, all with a fun filter and become part of the animation. Yes, your Zoogs will be saved forever so the grandkids can watch their favorite shows again and again.
Cost: $9.99 per month (although there are some freebies in the app you can try before joining a paid plan)
Caribu is an app developed by Mattel whose main purpose is to have virtual play dates with family members who live far away. Aimed at babies up to 13 years old, it offers games, drawing activities and stories to read together virtually. The app works on phones, tablets, and computers, so whether your grand piano is comfortable or not, connectivity should be an option.
Cost: $9.99 per month per household, or $79.99 per year
Readeo’s tagline is “read together from anywhere” and yes, that sums it up. Video chat with your grandchildren while reading together on the screen, including new books and holiday stories, Spanish-language books and children’s classics, such as Olivia or chica chica boom boom. This application is suitable for children from 0 to 11 years old.
Cost: Free, or $14.99 per month for unlimited access to the library and extra features like bookmarks
Marco Polo is one of the better-known video chat apps, and for good reason. It allows video calling and texting, as well as sharing photos and videos, leaving video messages, and more. Unlike Snapchat, these things don’t self-destruct after 10 seconds, and the app is safer for kids (adding random strangers isn’t recommended). This is a great option for the app-savvy teen who wants to connect with grandma but is too old for bedtime stories.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases, or starting at $5 per month for the Plus plan (with many additional features, listed here)
Keepy is primarily an organizational tool for parents – Keepy lets you take photos of your children’s school projects and artwork to catalog digitally, instead of hoarding all the paper – and record keepsakes and stories about the things you keep to attach to On them. However, you can add family members as your child’s “fans” and let them access memories over the phone or online. There, they can leave comments, video messages, and more about all the important moments in your child’s life (and even have their photos or artwork printed on the keepsake).
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
Words With Friends is a classic mobile game for playing with friends and family that remains popular today. This Scrabble-like puzzle game invites every player, no matter where they are, to take turns building words in a crossword-like manner and scoring points as they play. It’s a great way to interact between generations, especially for teenage grandchildren who don’t feel comfortable talking about their recent days at school.
Cost: Free with in-app purchases
If watching movies or TV shows together is an important part of your children’s time with their grandparents, then I have great memories of watching movies or TV shows keep up appearances Same as mine─then Custer is where it is. The app live-streams your screen to other users so you can watch movies together in real time, and it also has some additional chat features available while you’re at it.
Cost: Free, but there will be a watermark on the screen. Subscription costs $6.49 per month.
The Kinsome app has it all. Daily Shares sends kids conversation starters and prompts them to choose questions to learn more about their grandparents’ lives and family history. There are also games they can play together at the same time. Grandparents don’t need to download an app or even have a smartphone — they can receive invitations to play games and chat through email links or text messages.
Cost: Free, but $4.99 premium subscription option coming soon
