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Found some interesting articles today for you to enjoy on the topic of grandparenting.
The Grandparenting Blog had a great article on “Five Ways to Make Phone Calls with Grandchildren Fun” by Shayne and Tanda Packer. As anyone who has tried to carry on a conversation with a young child can relate to, it can be hard work! I like to sing hymns and Bible songs with my littler ones and they really enjoy it. Their mom tells me they get great big smiles on their faces. With the older ones, we talk about books, and food, and the weather, and I often end with a song with them too. I have a few favorites that we sing together and my hope has always been that when they hear those songs at other times it will trigger fun memories of our phone times together.
Shayne and Tanda Packer of The Grandparenting Blog had a similar thought in their great article, “Five Ways to Make Phone Calls with Grandchildren Fun.” Grandparents of eight, they also have a lot of experience in this area. I especially enjoyed reading the idea of making up stories together on the phone. I just did this with one of my local grandkids while we were waiting in the car. I started the story, told a few sentences of it and then waited for him to add more, he did a little, then back to me. We went back and forth like this for ten minutes and had a great time. Not only is it fun, it is teaching them creative and critical thinking skills! I am definitely going to give this a try the next time I am on the phone with one of my blessings.
They also mention videophone calls with their grandkids. I haven’t tried that but I have used Instant Messenger by MSN and a webcam that came built into my computer to see and talk to my grandkids and that was fun, though not the easiest thing to do. Fortunately their mom is VERY good at it and helped talk me through it.
One of their most recent articles tells how they made Sticker Books for their grandkids. Woo hoo, I see a great rainy day idea there, for sure! Their site is no longer up but I’m sure glad to continue sharing their fun ideas. 🙂
“Share Everyday Moments with Grandkids ” by Donna Erickson was an interesting article, which pointed out how important it is for our kids to get regular breaks “from the daily demands of raising [their] kids.” Helping them to build a strong marriage helps our grandchildren as well! She recommends regular overnighters at your house, as well as giving some fun ideas of what to do when they are there. You can read more about her at her website, DonnasDay .
For more fun ideas, check out my article playing outside with your grandkids .
I am always on the lookout for fun, creative, and educational ideas to enjoy with my grandkids. Do you have any you would like to share? We’d love to hear from you. Just click on the Comments link at the bottom of each post and share away.
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Thanks for the wonderful review of our grandparenting blog articles! My wife likes to sing hymns with our grandkds too! It’s also delightful to have them recite a scripture they just memorized.
And thanks for the links to Donna Erickson’s websites. I like her ideas of heping give your grankids’ parents a break. In fact, I’m at the airport now going back home after spending some personal time with 2 of my grandsons. 🙂 Fun! (I wrote about my trip on my blog)
– Shayne Packer