As an Amazon Services LLC Associate, some of these items contain affiliate links, meaning if you click a link and make a purchase, we earn a small commission at no extra cost to you. Our recommendations are made to be genuinely helpful and useful.
Practical Ways to Celebrate the Season with your Grandkids at a Distance
I am counting down the days and feel like a kid waiting for Christmas morning, or to be more precise, a grandma waiting for her family on Christmas morning. Weather depending, we’ll have grandkids here by dinner on Christmas day!
However, we all know that a lot of the fun events surrounding Christmas occur on the days leading up to it. With that in mind, we’re sharing some virtual ways to celebrate during these last days before Christmas. We want to remind you that even if you won’t have the opportunity to celebrate in the same location there’s no need to have a blue….blue blue blue Christmas! With phones, other technology and a little bit of creativity you’ll be on your way to making some great Christmas time memories!
Here’s six ways you can have some Christmas fun virtually with your grandkids this week!
Snowman Building
If you want to make a snowman…check out this website where you’ll find lots of options to build your own custom snowman. You can both use a computer or tablet to access this website, create your snowman, and then snap a screen shot by clicking the camera icon and share your creations with each other.
Lighted Tour
The Chrismas lights up and down the street…driving around looking at Christmas lights is something our family has done for years. Here’s a way to view some spectacular displays no matter how many miles apart you are while sipping hot chocolate in your own homes! Just take the virtual light tour in either Western or Eastern USA. You can facetime or do a regular audio call and take turns choosing favorites. These are seriously some of the most amazing displays ever!
Read Christmas Books
T’was the Night Before Christmas is one of the most famous Christmas songs and stories of all time. It’s a great read even from a distance. We’re guessing this Frozen version will be super popular this year!
Write a Christmas Story
You could also write your own Christmas story! Younger grandkids will need a little help from grownups, but this one’s fun for older elementary kids too. Simply give them a one line prompt and ask them to come up with the next sentence in the story. You can do this over audio or video call, or even texting (again – with grownup approval). It would be fun to write that story down as it’s created to read again later! Here are a few story starters.
- One day, a snowman decided to move to a new home…
- A family decided to drive up into the mountains to get a Christmas tree…
- Once upon a time there was a little puppy that sneaked into the house on Christmas Eve…
Scavenger Hunt
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…and you’ll have the photos to prove it. Arrange a scavenger hunt. It could be something that is actually timed to complete in one setting, or it could span several days. This type of scavenger hunt doesn’t need to have a winner, but it will get you some pics of your grandkids AND give you the opportunity to share some of your own too. Everyone wins playing this game! You can start with these ideas and add your own. Text each other selfies of you:
- next to a Christmas tree
- eating a candy cane
- holding a candle
- singing a Christmas song (send a video)
- sitting on Santa’s lap
- by a Christmas yard decoration
- eating a Christmas cookie
- wearing a tacky Christmas sweater
- with a nativity scene
Same Thing, Same Time
Through the years we all will be together… Sometimes just knowing that you can be together with someone ‘in spirit’ can really brighten your day. Try scheduling a time, either once during this season, or a brief moment each day, where you and your grandkids do the same thing. You could schedule a time to make a Christmas treat. You could commit to marking another day off the countdown right before bedtime, to sharing a celebration from 2019 at dinner, or even saying a simple Christmas prayer such as this: “Dear God, thank you for this season. Thank you for all I have and help me bless someone today. Amen.”
Whatever you choose to do, we’ll be thinking of you and hoping that you will find moments to bridge the distance with your grandkids this Christmas! We do wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!