Our need for connection with family, friends, and community is so important during this time of self-isolation and social distancing. We were made for relationships.
It can feel discouraging to not know when things will go back to the way they once were before all of this. Thankfully the blessing of technology has made it easier to stay connected with loved ones.
How to Stay Connected
When times are tough, we need to go the extra mile and be initiators, staying in touch with family and community. Here are some easy ways to help you do that, plus have some much needed, light-hearted fun during this time of social distancing.
Video Apps
- Google Duo: a video chatting app that works for both android & iOS devices. Add as many as 12 people to a chat!
Ideas: Schedule a happy hour with your girlfriends this week to stay in touch and have a laugh! Host a Friday night dinner and have everyone “share” a meal together. - Marco Polo: combines the best of texting, social media, and video chats – all in one private, easy to use app. Schedule a once a week time to be intentional and check-in with a loved one and make it fun.
- House Party: allows up to eight people to video chat at once. Play games with family and friends, Heads Up!, Trivia, Quick Draw, & Chips and Guac! Make it a fun Friday night game night with friends or family.
- WhatsApp: with group chats, you can share messages, photos, and videos with up to 256 people at once. You can also name your group, mute, or customize notifications.
Meaningful ways to be intentional with loved ones
- Send a personalized postcard with Evernote. Use your own photos to create a postcard to just say “hi, I’m thinking of you!” and brighten up someone’s day. Everyone loves to receive snail mail.
- Get to know your family better through their stories and history, by creating a legacy book with Story Worth. Once a week, Story Worth sends the person an email asking questions you’ve never thought to ask. They simply reply with a story, which is shared with you each week. At the end of a year, their stories are bound into a beautiful keepsake book. This is such a cool way to stay in touch, and discover things you never knew about your family!
- Create a family playlist on Spotify. Have each family or family member create a playlist and share it for everyone else to enjoy. Music has the power to uplift and totally transform your mood or your day! Having a hard day? Create an upbeat playlist and share it with someone else who might need it.
Other ways to stay connected: share webcams and virtual tours
Have something fun and interesting to talk about and “go” somewhere new, right on your own couch.
Awesome Webcams
- Watch the animals via webcams at places like Smithsonian’s National Zoo or the San Diego Zoo
- Watch penguins take a field trip to visit other animals at Chicago’s Shedd Aquarium via Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook.
- Are you a bird lover? Watch the bald eagles on the Southwest Florida Eagle cam.
Virtual Tours
- Take virtual tours of some of the world’s finest museums and art galleries.
- Go on virtual Disney rides
- Take a Street Art virtual walking tour
- Go on a virtual nature walk. (The National Parks Service partnered with Google to follow park rangers through some of America’s most stunning and challenging terrains, from the Alaskan Glaciers to Utah’s Bryce Canyon.)
- Go under the sea on a virtual dive, thanks to National Marine Sanctuaries.
I hope these ideas help you intentionally stay connected with your loved ones and community, and maybe have a bit of fun and bring you joy during this hard season we are in. We are all in this together mamas 🙂
How is your family staying connected?
