Summer means road trips, vacations, and for many kids, summer camp! Your kids will be making memories and friendships a plenty over the next few months. While the end of a trip or camp session can feel like the end of an era, there are luckily lots of easy and special ways to stay close with friends and relatives who live far away.
Try one of the tips and activities below to honor the value of re'ut, friendship and dibbuk chaverim, being a good friend.
To help stay in touch and build relationships with friends, try these fun and easy tips:
Video chat together
Thanks to technology, your kids don’t need to wait long stretches of time between seeing their cousins and best pals. Applications like Skype, Google Hangouts, and Facetime, make it easyto share special virtual moments together. Take a tip from Tea with Zayde and organize a virtual tea time, or, livestream a special event like a soccer game, a first day of school, or a birthday party.
Talk on the phone
Set aside special phone time just for kids to chat with each other. Encourage children to play phone games, like “20 Questions” together. When school is back in session kids can compare notes about what they've been learning and who their favorite teachers are.
Send special “snail-mail”
Photo via Evolving Motherhood
Share games together, write letters, or send a “hug” in the mail. Older children can do crosswords or word searches in steps by mailing answers back and forth to each other. Postcards and home-made cards are also fun to pick out or make. Not only will kids have fun making special cards and care packages for each other, they’ll also enjoy receiving mail in return.
Make and share photo albums
Who doesn’t love a good photo album? Consider putting together a special album or photo book. Kids can decorate albums with supplies from craft stores, or you can use a service like Shutterfly or Snapfish to create a one of a kind book just for friends. You can also send a disposable camera back and forth through the mail to fill with photos for a special long-distance collaborative album.
Read stories together
Whether by phone or video chat, reading stories together forms an instant bond. Use your “talk time” either via video or phone to read from favorite books. Kids can even start a virtual book club together, reading aloud over video chat.
How do you stay in touch with loved ones who live far away?
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June 15, 2018