Your grandkids are busy. They have girlfriends, boyfriends, school, blogs, soccer, dance classes, and long stretches of sleep that defy biological explanation. They are into a hundred different activities—most of which do not include plans to visit grandma or grandpa.

Don’t panic. Here are 4 nifty technologies that can help you connect with your grandkids.

Facebook
Your grandkids are probably using Facebook, so you should be too!
What is Facebook, you ask?
Facebook is a social networking website, where people with similar interests form, maintain or nurture relationships. Social network users create pages containing personal information and then grant other users permission to view those pages. It’s a quick and unobtrusive way of peering into your grandkids’ activities and “statuses.” Similarly, you can post your own statuses (for example, “Going fishing”) so that your grandkids know what you are up to.
Facebook is free, assuming you have a computer and Internet access. Once you create an account, you simply need to “friend” your grandkid so you can see their status and they can see yours.

Travel Websites
If your grandkids are in another city, you can go see them.
If you are lucky enough to live in the same city as your grandkids, take them on weekend getaway to somewhere fantastic!
The Internet has made travel easier than ever. You can review a destination and then book a flight in minutes from your home computer.
When picking a new destination to impress the grandkids, your first stop will be a travel review website, such as www.TripAdvisor.com. TripAdvisor provides travel recommendations for accommodations, vacations, and travel packages. This is all well and good, but the real power of TripAdvisor is its enormous selection of user reviews. There is no reason to go somewhere that others found unpleasant.
Once you’ve decided upon the destination, head over to your favorite online travel reservation website such as Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, or Kayak.com. There you can search for a flight, hotel, or car, and book your trip! For example, you search for a flight from Denver to Orlando and the search yields 100 possible flights—prices ranging from $200 for a flight with a layover in Atlanta, to $725 for a direct flight. Simply skim through the results and select the one that best fits your need and budget.

Nintendo Wii
Yes, it’s a video game system. But don’t fret—you can play it too.
The Wii features a wireless remote and motion sensors so that your movements control the character’s onscreen movements. For example, if you’re playing Wii tennis, you swing at the ball and your onscreen character also swings. Time it right and you’ll actually hit the virtual ball!
Each Wii system ships with the Wii Sports game package, which allows you to play tennis, baseball, golf, bowling and boxing in front of your TV. No running is required—just hold the remote and swing at the ball and the Wii players will mimic your action.
The Wii is a great game system for seniors and kids alike. If you want to do something fun with your grandkid—and have a chance of beating the pants off of them at a video game—this could be just the thing. I strongly recommend Wii bowling. It’s a blast.

iPod
Apple’s iPod is the reigning king of MP3 music players. MP3 players are the digital successors to Walkmans, which were portable music players using either tape cassette or DVD music storage. Now, instead of storing your music on tapes or CDs, MP3 players store music on their miniature computer-like hard drives. Whereas one cassette tape held one album’s worth of music, a moderately-sized MP3 player can hold 30 albums of high quality digital music.
Ask your grandkid for the names of five artists they have on their iPod and buy that music for your iPod. If you’re lucky, your grandkids will have good taste and you will enjoy the musical experience. If you’re unlucky and your grandkids have poor musical taste, at least you’ll have more insight into their artistic preferences. This can serve as the basis for deeper conversation or good old-fashioned lecture.
iPods range in price from $80 to over $250 for the fanciest model.

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David Peterka is the author of the popular book, “The Senior Sleuth’s Guide to Technology for Seniors,” available on Amazon.com. He is a technology writer who has written for a number of industry giants including General Electric and Boeing.