Zoom games for kids and grandparents
Updated
Zoom shines when several homes join one call: everyone appears in a grid, someone can share a screen, and the whiteboard works for drawing games. Good picks for kids and grandparents are whiteboard drawing games, screen-share family trivia, scavenger hunts, charades and split-clue puzzles. On Zoom's free plan meetings end at 40 minutes, so plan in two halves.
When is Zoom better than FaceTime or a phone call?
When there are more than two homes. A grandparent, two sets of grandkids in different cities and maybe a second grandparent somewhere else all fit on one Zoom call, in a grid where everyone can see everyone. For one grandparent and one grandchild, a phone or FaceTime call is usually simpler.
What should you know about Zoom's free plan?
As of November 2026, Zoom's own plan page lists the free Basic plan at 40 minutes per meeting, up to 100 participants, and three editable whiteboards. When the 40 minutes run out, the meeting ends and you'll need to start another (there may be a short wait), so plan a game for each half and use the break for snacks.
Set up the meeting for the grandparents: send one link by email, the same link every week if you can, and do a short practice call before the big day.
Which games use the whiteboard or screen sharing?
- Drawing guessing game: one person draws a word on the whiteboard, everyone else guesses.
- Family trivia: share a short slideshow of questions about the family ("Which of us was born in a snowstorm?").
- Baby photo guessing: share old photos of the grown-ups and let the kids guess who's who.
- Map game: share a map and take turns guessing where each grandparent grew up, went on vacation, or met.
- Spot the difference: share two versions of a picture and race to find the changes.
Which games need no screen sharing at all?
- Scavenger hunt: call out "something older than you" or "something that smells nice"; first back on camera wins.
- Charades: the host texts the actor a word, everyone else guesses.
- Freeze dance: one person controls the music, everyone freezes when it stops.
- Show and tell, one person per home per call.
- Simon says, with a grandparent as Simon.
- Name that tune across generations: grandparents hum one, kids hum one.
How do you keep a big call from turning into chaos?
- Pick one host who runs the games and mutes or unmutes people when needed.
- Give each home a turn, in a fixed order, so the quiet ones get a go.
- Keep each game under ten minutes and have the next one ready.
- Use speaker view when one person is performing, gallery view when everyone's playing.
What about games for just one grandparent and one grandchild?
Games where each player holds information the other needs work best one-on-one: secret codes, describe-and-draw, and split-clue mysteries. Ours gives the grandparent half the clues and the grandchild the other half, and it works on Zoom, FaceTime, WhatsApp or a plain phone call, because each player opens their clues on their own device.
Sources
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