Zoom dance parties, virtual fashion shows, and online gaming were not part of Cookie Walner’s routine with her grandchildren before the pandemic. But now, these new traditions are helping her family stay close even when they have to stay apart.

Many mornings start with a 7 a.m. Zoom call as Walner and her 9-year-old granddaughter and 7-year-old grandson connect to Roblox, an online game platform. There, they play a variety of games together and talk about the everyday things they might usually discuss while cooking dinner or on the way to soccer practice. “It’s great fun,” Walner said.

While she attends some outdoor activities with her grandchildren, Walner enjoys the way her virtual activities let the family stay in touch more consistently. “It was our way of touching base every day,” she said.

Touching base with a regular schedule has also been important for Ali Karmin, who shares Friday night Zooms with her extended family. “It’s a nice way to not be alone on Shabbat. My grandma is pretty tech-savvy and she’s loved it since we can’t usually see her in person,” she said.

“The Shabbat Zoom is something we can always look forward to,” Karmin continued. “For my grandma, it’s nice [for her] to see her grandchildren more than she usually does. This is the longest stretch we’ve gone” without seeing each other in person. Sharing dinner and lighting candles together – albeit virtually – helps keep the family connection strong.

Sharing pre-COVID family rituals on Zoom is also important to Rebecca and David Eisenberg, who enjoy playing family favorite games like B’Rosh Echad – an Israeli board game similar to Family Feud-online with their nine grandchildren.

The Eisenbergs also enjoy creating virtual puzzles out of family pictures and play an online Pictionary-like game. While the family plays games together, they keep Zoom running “so we can talk and it makes it feel like we’re there together,” Rebecca said. “It gives me great pleasure!”

“When we can’t see our grandchildren in person, we need a way to interact,” said David, who researched online games and recently redid the garage to make it suitable for socially distant meetings.

For families looking for new ideas to spice up their routines, JCC Chicago is facilitating a variety of programs. Through a partnership with Grandparent-Grandchild Connection, grandparents who signed up for the Write Your Stories workshop received twice-weekly writing prompts about their lives. After completing each prompt, the grandparents were encouraged to share their stories with their grandchildren.

“Taking the time to write your memoir makes you reflect on things that wouldn’t come up in the course of conversation,” said Ilene Uhlmann, Director of Arts and Ideas for JCC Chicago. “What you’re sharing is insight into who you are as a person and how you became the grandparent you are today.”

JCC Chicago is also offering panel discussions for grandparents – Lifelines for a Lifetime – and the G2 Global Intergenerational Initiative. The G2 program puts grandparents in a pivotal role in their 5th -7th grade grandchildren’s Jewish journeys and offers families the opportunity to connect with other families in Israel.

“Grandparents play such an important part in someone’s life,” said Abby Ashkenazi, Jewish Educator for JCC Chicago.

Even at a time when it’s hard to connect beyond a computer screen, innovative ideas like the ones these families and organizations have discovered can make the distance feel not quite so far.

For more information on grandparent/grandchild programming at JCC Chicago, visit JCCChicago.org.