How My Kids Connect With Family During This Pandemic

This post is sponsored by Messenger Kids. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

 

Houston Moms "How My Kids Connect With My Family During this Pandemic" #houstonmoms #houstonmomsblog #momsaroundhouston

It’s no secret this pandemic has been hard. Hard for moms. Hard for dad. Hard for kids. 

Despite all of this my kids have been amazing. Like, letting Mommy and Daddy take uninterrupted work calls at 1pm, 3pm, and 5pm without complaining, amazing. I’ve been so proud of them. We are currently homeschooling, so they haven’t seen their school friends {minus a couple of families that we have hung out with} since March. Our family is spread out over Texas and we have hardly seen them since March either. 

It’s not all bad, though. About a year ago, I heard about a really cool app from our City Moms Collective Conference called Messenger Kids that is designed for kids 6-12. I was really impressed that kids were able to chat or draw pictures in a safe and controlled manner. My oldest was just learning how to read and my youngest wants to do everything the youngest was doing, so I downloaded it for both of them. I manage who they chat with and I get to monitor their activity from my Facebook account.

It’s really cool. I even added it to an Educational Apps for Kids post for Houston Moms at the end of March.


Connect During the Holidays

We already know this holiday season is going to look different, isn’t it? Messenger Kids is here to bring the ho-ho-holiday cheer and help kids connect with friends and family during a socially-distanced holiday season. They are unveiling a whole bunch of holiday fun for your child throughout the month of December. 

They are even bringing SANTA to Messenger Kids! Messenger Kids is opening a direct line to the North Pole by way of you, the parent! They are giving us the ability to message our kids as the jolly fellow himself, as long as we opt into it. I’m pretty excited to add some extra holiday joy by participating in this. 

Messenger Kids has also added some season effects, stickers, and frames that can excite that holiday spark in our kids. I especially love that they can learn about Hanukkah and Kwanzaa with these fun additions. My oldest has had a blast sending everyone she knows a darling gingerbread frame. And when it’s time to say hello to 2021, I know she’s going to be all about the New Year’s glasses.

Also, parents can send digital holiday cards to their kids! There are numerous holiday card templates to choose from including Hanukkah, Christmas and Kwanzaa. Parents can even customize their note to their children. All cards are sent through the parents’ Messenger account.


Connect with Messenger Kids 

My kiddos have about 12 friends on Messenger Kids, most of whom are my family. Over the years, as my oldest got older, her friends started connecting on Messenger Kids, so I allowed them to connect as well. During the quarantine, they chatted with each other, sent each other cute drawings they made, played Messenger Kids games together, and just giggled for hours. They learned to read, write, chat, send emojis. I mean, a lot of emojis. All day long, with the emojis. 

My kids have been able to chat with my parents, my sister, and a few bonus aunts and uncles they have. It’s been really awesome to see the bonds that has come out of Messenger Kids and our family. I will tell my mom something and she will say, “I know. Kaitlyn messaged me that already.” My dad, who doesn’t really text much, chats with my kids throughout the day. 

On my side, I’ve been able to connect with my older nieces. We get to chat all day long and they call me when they are bored. I love it! I used to have to wait until their mom or dad was available to give them their phone. 

Aside from the fact that I manage who they connect with, I love that Messenger Kids also teaches kids how to communicate.  My kids message me from it while I’m at the gym {usually to ask me to pick up lunch} or they video chat me if they need me. I have not seen any negatives to it since we allowed our kids to check it out. 

This holiday season, check out Messenger Kids.  The app is free and can be downloaded from any of the app stores. All you have to do is download the Messenger Kids app to your child’s phone or tablet. Authenticate your child’s device using your Facebook login and create a Messenger Kids account for them {this does NOT create a FB account for your kid}. Through your own Facebook account, you manage who your kids chat with, who is added to their account, and you can set time limits.


Connect with Messenger Kids

Website | Facebook | Instagram | App on Apple | App on Android


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Jennifer H
Jennifer is a native outside-the-loop’er growing up and living in the Richmond/Rosenberg area. She has a Bachelors in theology and political science from Texas Lutheran University and a Masters in Liberal Arts from Texas Christian University. She and her husband Greg met in 2010 through Match.com and fell in love on their first date. They married exactly one year later and have fought lovingly and constantly since. They have two amazingly brilliant girls, Kaitlyn {June 2013} and Elizabeth {June 2015} who Jen stays home with during the day. When Jen is not curled in a little ball rocking back and forth with Peppa Pig on in the background, she can be found crafting with her Silhouette and/or binge watching The Office for the millionth time. Jen has an uncanny ability to be comfortable in almost any situation put in front of her, thanks to growing up in politics and on the debate team. Before having kids of her own, she had the opportunity to help other kids through teaching, youth ministry, and generally being a helpful, kind soul. You can check out more about Jen on IG @themommymiddle.

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