Great Ideas for Kids to Connect with Grandparents - Little Girl Invents a Way to Share a Safe Hug

For many children, there's nothing better than a hug from their grandmother. However, during these days, social distancing and other efforts to slow the spread of the coronavirus have made it more difficult for kids to spend time with their grandparents. 

But one California girl has come up with a creative way to connect with her grandparents. Paige Okray, 10, invented the Hug Curtain.

Using a shower curtain, hot glue gun, Ziploc bags, and disposable plates, Paige created the curtain to hang on her front door, making it possible for her to hug her grandparents – while staying safe. 

Making Connections

Meanwhile, people around the world are finding new ways to serve their communities during the pandemic. For one Rhode Island teen, it's all about connections. 

Kaya Suner created an organization to help bring communication devices – like smartphones and tablets – to hospital patients who can't afford them. That way, they can connect with loved ones who aren't able to visit them due to the outbreak. 

"We've heard a lot about the country reopening and about the need dissipating, but it really is not. There's still patients inside of hospitals who don't have the ability to communicate with their families, and hospitals are still begging us for devices," Suner said. 

Suner's group, COVID Connecters, has collected more than 650 devices to give to patients and has even garnered the praise of Rhode Island's governor.

Crayons Helping Fight Effects of the Coronavirus Among Seniors

Imagine being cooped up in a nursing home during the pandemic – no card games, no conversation with other residents, no meals with friends. But that's exactly what has happened inside America's nursing homes since the lockdown began.

Such was life at the Bay Oaks Historic Retirement Residence located in Miami, FL. Then artwork from young artists started arriving to brighten up seniors' days.

"It's nice to know there is someone out there thinking of you. We just can't see them or hug them," resident Janet Liedeker told the Miami Herald. "It breaks the monotony for both sides, the giver and the recipient."

Miami City Commissioner Ken Russell and Coconut Grove art therapist Morgan DeFranco worked together to figure out a way to bring generations together through the barriers of social distancing, closed doors, and masked faces.

The two created the Hearts Passion Project, a website that allows kids to send their artistic creations online to a person they choose by their first name. Kids can also see what other kids around the world have been creating. 

Students from 15 schools were chosen to participate, but the Herald reports the number of contributors is growing. 

"The mental health consequences of isolation can be dire," DeFranco said. "You're used to looking forward to seeing friends and family and suddenly that face-to-face interaction is gone. Art helps heal depression and anxiety. If a kid made me a picture, even if I didn't know exactly what it was, it would warm my heart."

"We don't want older people to feel forgotten, and we want kids to share their creativity. We've made it simple to generate an act of kindness. As we expand, it would be cool to connect any senior in the world to a child through virtual art."

Grandparents Still Making Memories with Their Families

Grandparents are now connecting digitally with their children and grandchildren more than they ever have before using free video chat services like FaceTime, Zoom, Google Hangout, Skype, and others. 

The BayAreaParent website also lists these things for kids to do online with their grandparents. 

• Write a list of 10 questions and have your children interview their parents.
• Ask grandparents to share stories from their lives with grandkids.
• Have the grandparent read a story.
• Do a craft together.
• Cook together or have grandparents share recipes. 
• Play a board game together online. 
• Grandparents can share old photos. 

The website also suggests a couple of other ways for grandparents to connect with their grandkids offline.

• Send each other care packages.  
• Send each other handwritten letters in the mail.