As I’ve mentioned before, since early March I’ve been doing the work-from-home and kid online schooling juggle. Some days go really well and some days… don’t (Parenting through a Pandemic). Both Jack and I have been getting a bit lonely for normal everyday activities and friends. In fact, Jack hasn’t seen any non-family friends for three months. Which when you’re 8 is a really, really, really long time. Actually, when you’re 42 it is also a really long time.
We’ve had the random family Zoom calls/JackBox game nights and Jack has also had some Zoom calls to play Animal Crossing with two of his uncles. Which gave me an idea… what if I set up a Zoom call with one of Jack’s friends, but gave them something they could actually do?
And that is where the Zoom Pokemon Battle idea came from!
Each kiddo was told to gather their Pokemon cards and they could have a battle from the safety of their own homes. We Zoomed one of Jack’s 2nd grader friends and for about 45 minutes they were thrilled to battle it out. There was no touching, or germ sharing…but there were certainly lots of giggles.
To be honest, they were doing great until I ruined it. They seemed to be petering out on the Pokemon Battle, so I suggested they share a virtual whiteboard and take turns making pictures. Bad idea. Bad, BAD idea. It became a tug-of-war and both kids ended up annoyed that they had to keep fighting over whiteboard access. So yeah, don’t do that and just stick with the Pokemon games!
Have you figured out any fun ways to keep your kids connected with other kids while stuck at home? Share in the comments!