Video Call Ideas for Toddlers (Ages 1 to 3)

Video calls with a toddler can be very short. A one-year-old will look at the screen, grab the phone, show you the ceiling, and wander off to find a spoon. Thirty seconds later, the call is mostly a view of the carpet.

That is completely normal, and it doesn’t mean the call was wasted. Toddlers learn faces and voices through repetition, and a short call that happens often does more than a long one that happens once a month.

What helps is having a few simple things ready to do. Here are the ones that tend to hold a toddler’s attention the longest.

What to expect at each age

Around one year. They may recognise your voice before your face. Expect a lot of looking, grabbing and walking away. A minute or two of real attention is a good call.

Around two. They start to answer simple questions and to show you things. They love repetition, so the same song or game every call is exactly what they want.

Around three. Many three-year-olds can do a five or ten-minute call if there is something to do. They enjoy being in charge, so let them choose the song or hide the toy.

Every child is different, and a tired or hungry toddler of any age will not want to talk to anyone.

A note on screens. Most guidance on screen time for very young children makes an exception for video chatting with family, because it is live and two-way. A call with a grandparent is a very different thing from a cartoon.

Songs with actions

This is the easiest place to start. Pick a song with hand movements and do the movements big, so they are easy to see on a small screen.

“The Wheels on the Bus,” “Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes,” “If You’re Happy and You Know It” and “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star” all work well. So do the songs and rhymes you sang to your own children, in whatever language you sang them.

Sing the same song at the start of every call. After a few weeks, many toddlers will start the movements as soon as they see your face.

Peekaboo

Peekaboo is just as good on a screen. Hide your face behind your hands, a tea towel or a cushion, then pop back out.

You can also hide the whole picture by covering the camera with your hand for a second. Toddlers find it very funny when the grandparent disappears and comes back.

Puppets and stuffed animals

A sock with two buttons for eyes is enough. Give the puppet a silly voice and let it say hello, sneeze, fall asleep and wake up suddenly.

Stuffed animals work too. Make the teddy wave, dance or “kiss” the camera. Toddlers often run to get their own teddy so the two can meet.

Show and tell

Hold up one thing at a time and name it. A cup, a banana, a set of keys, a hat. Give the object a little action: drink from the cup, peel the banana, jingle the keys, put the hat on the cat.

Then ask your grandchild to show you something. “Where is your ball?” “Can you show me your shoes?” Toddlers love running off to fetch things, and the running is part of the fun. Ask the parent to keep the phone pointing at the room so you can see them come back.

Animal sounds

Hold up a picture or a toy animal and make its sound. Then pause and let your grandchild make it. Cow, dog, cat, duck, sheep and lion are the usual favourites.

Get it wrong on purpose sometimes. “The cow says quack!” Most two-year-olds will correct you with great seriousness.

Bubbles and other simple tricks

Blowing bubbles in front of the camera is a good way to hold a very young child’s attention for a minute. So is dropping a ball, splashing water in a bowl, or slowly pouring rice from one cup to another.

These seem almost too simple, but toddlers enjoy watching cause and effect. Their faces when the bubble pops are usually worth the call.

A few practical tips

Call at a good time of day. After a nap and before dinner is often best. Ask the parents, because they know their child’s rhythm.

Ask the parent to set the phone down. If the phone is propped on a table or the floor, the toddler can move around and come back, and nobody has to chase them with the camera.

Keep it short. Five minutes of fun is better than fifteen minutes of trying. End the call while they are still happy.

Say goodbye the same way every time. A wave, a kiss to the camera, a little goodbye song. Toddlers like knowing what comes next, and it makes hanging up easier.

As they get older

From about three or four, toddlers start to enjoy real games. Simple versions of the games in our five easy video call games work well at that age, especially “What’s missing” with only three objects.

And if they are starting to love books, try reading to them on a call. We have tips on that in our article on reading a bedtime story over video call.

Our free Video Call Play Pack has a one-page Toddler Call Plan to keep next to your screen, and a page of animal sound cards to hold up on the call.

Get the free Video Call Play Pack

What does your youngest grandchild do when they see you on the screen?