In today’s times, many members of one family live in different cities or even other countries around the world.

Our sweet grandchildren live in London, England, an ocean and more than 7,000 kilometres away. How can we stay in touch and be a part of their lives? We treasure our visits, and travel together, including a weekend trip to Bath, and a cruise on the Thames River. We explore their neighbourhood parks, go for walks, share ice cream, read and do puzzles together.

When they visit us in Victoria, I look for fantastic parks and other activities in the area for us to go to. Gyro Park is a fun place with a sunny beach, pirate treasure island, playground, zipline, climbing ship and gigantic colourful creatures like the Cadborosaurus, octopus and whale.

Other favourite beaches and hikes include Willows Beach, Swan Lake, Beaver Lake, Elk Lake and Witty’s Lagoon. Water parks at Carnarvon, Beckwith, Uptown Mall, Rutledge Park and Esquimalt Adventures never cease to thrill. Several recreation centres have indoor pools and skating rinks. Local libraries offer books, videos and reading programs. There are many workshops in music, art, drama and dance offered in every district.

Beacon Hill Park is a fabulous place with its petting zoo, playground, entertainment, and a giant watering can to cool down under. Downtown has Courthouse Playground, buskers at the Inner Harbour, Miniature World, The Bug Zoo, The Board Game Café, The Puzzle, Quest Reality Games, The Haunted Manor indoor mini golf, the Dino Lab and the Underground Donut Tour.

Imax and The Royal BC Museum offer interesting films and displays. Tally-Ho Carriage Tours, Pedaler Cycling Tour, walking tours, riding on a Victoria Harbour Ferry or a double-decker bus are unique ways to see the city.

For the more adventurous, take a three-hour sail on a tall ship, a Harbour Air flight, a whale watching trip in a zodiac or a hot tub tour (seriously).

History comes alive at the Legislature, the Empress Hotel, Rogers Chocolates, Fan Tan Alley, Chinatown and Craigdarroch Castle.

Festivals delight, including the Highland Games, Awakening Chinatown, the Victoria Day Parade, Oak Bay Tea Party, Canada Day picnics, Symphony Splash and Dragon Boat races. Summer brings many free concerts in parks across the region. Mini-golf courses can be a blast, as well as berry picking and visiting ice cream spots.

On the peninsula, Heritage Acres pioneer village and train are great for exploring, as are Iroquois Spray Park and the Shaw Centre Aquarium in Sidney. The Aviation Museum with gigantic Mars water bomber enchants.

Butterfly Gardens in Brentwood is an exotic experience, and the Country Bee Honey Farm with animals to feed is fun. Famous Butchart Gardens has a merry-go-round, and in the winter, a hunt for the 12 days of Christmas.

Fall fairs like Saanich Fairgrounds and Luxton are popular. Further afield, the Splash Pad at Colwood Creek, Langford’s Glenn Lake Beach Park, Centennial Spray Park and Leigh Place Beach Park are worth the trip. Wild Play on the Island Highway kids zone has ziplines and other fun adventures. The Malahat Skywalk is a family adventure with magnificent views.

When they aren’t visiting you, Zoom is a great way to interact with children far away, hear their giggles and watch them grow. I’ve made quilts and sent toys, books, cards, birthday banners and Christmas stockings. Special t-shirts, hats and shoes, even things I’ve saved from their mother’s childhood, make welcome gifts.

I’ve made my grandchildren a photo album of our family. Now, I’m writing stories in a keepsake book my daughter gifted me. Each page has envelopes with questions that you answer in letter form.

We can’t always live close to our grandchildren, but we can bridge the distance with creativity, care and connection to show them how much they are loved.

I learned with great happiness that I was going to be a first-time grandma over three years ago. But then I got nervous. I was no ordinary grandma. How would I do it with a chronic illness? Surrounded by “assistive devices” like a walker, scooter, cane and leg brace, it was going to be tricky, challenging and downright awkward… maybe.

There are many kinds of grandparents out there and a myriad of ways to get to know our grandkids. What if you live far away? We have choices like never before. Phone calls, Skype, FaceTime, videos, texts, email, snail mail and more. Even though I live in the same city as my grandson, I occasionally send him a photo or short video clip of some activity he might like. This age of technology is keeping us close.

My “unusual” style began the day after he was born. I sat comfortably in a chair while this little bundle of joy was brought to me. I was grinning ear-to-ear looking down at this baby, and suddenly I knew it would be all right. It was going to be a bit like being a first-time mom, learning and adapting along the way. My grown children wanted me in their child’s life. Yes, there were times when I wished I could scoop him up and walk around like everybody else, and felt sorry for myself because I would never get to hold his little hand and walk beside him. Little did I know, the fun was soon to begin.

At about nine months old, he had the strength, dexterity and willingness to sit in my walker basket and be pushed around. I marched him down the halls of my condo, knocking on doors and introducing him to my friends. People in my 55-plus building loved seeing him, and his parents got a short break to sit and relax. When he got bigger, the walker seat worked just as well, backward or forward facing. We checked out the Halloween decorations on residents’ doors, pictures on the walls and Christmas décor in December. His curiosity was boundless as he began talking and naming things.

My favourite memory is from last summer. My son-in-law and grandson met me at Mr. Tubs for ice cream. I saw this place from new eyes, that of a child, as the one-and-a-half-year-old watched in fascination at all the activity: a games room, plenty of interactive play and excited kids. Beside the shop, there was a busy construction site with backhoes, dump trucks and a giant crane. My grandson’s eyes lit up as we went out the door, action surrounding us. I was on my scooter, and we meandered over to Hampton Park to find the kid’s playground. On the way back, to the thrill of this grandma, Benny rode on my scooter with me, first in my lap and then standing up.

Now I send him short video clips of construction equipment in action. He is two-and-a-half, and the first time I heard “Hi Grandma” it was another thrill. The connection is there, as strong as a heartbeat.

I have plenty of treasured memories with this little guy and can’t wait for his baby brother to be born. I’m so grateful for my family, and that my kids have made it possible for me to be the best grandma I can be. Don’t be shy, there’s always a work-around for every situation.

Summer time often means more time for grandparents to spend with grandchildren. Sometimes that’s a vacation or cottage getaway. Sometimes it’s a childcare-in-the-city situation. Either way, it may be a time where grandparents get more day-to-day interaction with their grandkids who are not in school. With lots of activities and destinations to choose from, how does a grandparent decide what to do?

You may want to think about summer activities, which, while being fun and novel, will also support academic learning. Some of these will be obvious, but some might have benefits you have not thought of.

Take the dolls tea party, for example. Set the table for tea time with the dolls, stuffed animals and action figures—don’t forget about the beloved cars and trucks. Discuss patterns, distributing one napkin to each creature, anticipating the needs of others. Pouring out the “tea” and passing the cookies provides practice in turn-taking and polite pleases and thank yous.

If you want to go all out, how about baking the cookies? Choose a really simple recipe with few ingredients. But even a three-year-old can help to measure and pour and stir. Cooking is a great way to reinforce math concepts (measurements of volume and weights, setting timers, talking about temperatures).

Baking is also an opportunity for practicing fine motor skills, pouring, cutting (butter, with a table knife, for example—nothing sharp!), blending butter into flour. It gives kids a chance to experience and talk about textures (powdery flour, greasy butter) which they don’t feel every day, as well as smells: cinnamon, lemon peel, cloves. Not to mention the way soft dough become crisp cookie—it’s not magic, it’s chemistry!

Building with blocks provides lots of opportunities to practice fine motor coordination and engineering skills. Of course it all starts with you building a tower and your grandchild knocking it down. A great exercise in turn taking! A little later, set up a small construction and challenge your grandchild to copy it. Then ask them to set you a challenge. Create enclosures for toys animals and dinosaurs. Make a house for the dolls. Lots of opportunities for telling stories.

With older kids (4 and up) grandparents can teach them card games. Start with sorting the cards into red and black, or suits, or numbers versus face cards. Progress to Memory where all the cards are laid out face down and each player turns over two at a time. The goal is to remember where the cards are and find matching pairs. Games like War and PishePasha great starting games that don’t require small kiddy-hands to hold fanned-out cards (that’s a difficult fine motor skill!). By the time kids are 6 or 7, they can learn Crazy Eights or Gin Rummy. And I know eight-year-olds who play Bridge!

Summer means outdoors, and outdoor play is a great time to develop gross motor skills, like running, kicking and throwing.

These skills take a long time to develop and kids need a lot of practice! Take the opportunity to discuss things we CAN kick and throw (balls in the field, stones into the water) and those we must not. There are lots of games you can create around throwing stones into the ocean or a lake: who can throw it farther (of course), who can hit that log, who can do the silliest throw, who can throw over their shoulder. But just meditatively tossing stones in the water can make space for conversation and connection.

Time outdoors also promotes healthy eye development. Studies have shown that spending a couple of hours a day outdoors reduces the incidence of myopia (short-sightedness). It seems that the bright light of the outdoors, and the opportunity to focus on the far-away things give the eyes the stimulation they need.

On Vancouver Island we are so lucky to have relatively easy access to the shore and the ocean.

There are so many opportunities there for wildlife observation, exploring tide pools, building sand castles, collecting pebbles or driftwood. But remember that just being outdoors, with unstructured time is hugely beneficial for children—and everyone else. The fresh air, the sunshine (remember sunscreen, hats, and the hydrantion), and the freedom is what summer is all about!