One of the great joys of growing older is the arrival of grandchildren and the mutual adoration that so often develops between the youngest and oldest members of a family.

Relationships with children grow through constant care.  When you are living close, this type of care comes easily through the time you are able to spend together. However, when you’re living thousands of miles apart, this becomes more difficult to accomplish. There are a variety of fun activities that expat grandparents  can do with their grandchildren overseas (or vice versa) which will help to maintain and strengthen their special bond.

Create an audiotape of yourself reading a bedtime story and send it to your grandchild with a copy of the book.

• Send a plastic jar in the mail that contains the exact number of small sweeties (nothing that will melt though) as days that are left until your next visit. Attach a little note asking your grandchild to eat one a day until you are together again.

• Play hide and seek from a distance. Have the parent hide the treats you sent in certain predetermined ‘hiding places’. Give your grandchild clues over the phone, by email, or in a letter, about where the treats are hidden.

• Send a package containing all the things your grandchild will need if he or she becomes ill. For example, you could send a packet of chicken noodle soup mix, crossword puzzles, colouring books, fuzzy felt board, a stuffed animal, etc.

• Start a family history project. Ask your grandchild which relatives he or she would like to get to know better and together research stories and information about them.

• One Dubai grandmother regularly telephones her granddaughter in the UK on a Saturday morning and they take turns to read books or poems to each other.

• If your grandchildren have never visited the country in which you live, take photos of your home, your friends, your street, your pets, so that they can begin to get a sense of your life. If you have a video camera, make a home movie in which you specifically talk to the children.

• Play Internet games together like Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune, both of which can be found at http://sony.com. Organise what time and day you will meet online and remember to take into account time zone differences.

• Using an Internet based crossword puzzle program such as the one at http://puzzlemaker.school.discovery.com, make a personalized crossword puzzle for your grandchild. Clues could include special times together, memories, names of family members or pets or each other's favourite activities.

• If you have access to the Internet, seriously consider installing a web cam to your PC and downloading MSN Messenger and Net Meeting from http://messenger.msn.co.uk .  If your family overseas does the same, you can both connect to see and speak with each other live online. It’s a completely free service so all you pay for is your time online. Skype (available as a free download from Skype.com) provides free PC to PC telephony and is webcam enabled.