As Christmas nears, grandparents look for ways to share books with their grandchildren. Sometimes the children are near and visit often. Other times they are far away and visit at special times during the year – such as holidays. In still other situations, the children live too far away to visit, except on rare occasions.

Here are three ways that children and their grandparents can share the books they love, even if they can’t cuddle on the sofa while reading.

1. Share a book via Skype (TM) or Google Hangout. This works well for read aloud (whether the reader is the child or the grandparent). This would also be a great way to enjoy shared reading, with each one reading every other page. It would be easiest if both parties have copy of the book, but it could be achieved by holding a single copy up to the screen.
2. Share a traveling book. I posted about traveling book clubs for girls, for boys, and for preschoolers. What about a traveling book club with the grandparents? Kids and their grandparents can take turns reading a part of a book, jotting a note, and sending both to the other party. The book continues to travel between the two until it is read in its entirety.
3. Share a book through trivia questions. Child and grandparent each have a copy of the book for this activity. After reading a part of the book, each writes trivia questions based on the section/chapter read. The questions might be emailed with a time limit for finding the answers, creating a game-type interaction.

How has your family shared books with long-distance grandparents?

Carol

Let’s keep in touch. Visit my blog for more posts about Christian children’s books and related activities.

My preteen devotionals are for kids ages 8 – 12. Does your preteen have a new devotional to begin 2016?