Plan Time With Your Grandchildren Using AI

AI can help you prepare something to do with your grandchildren: a story opening, a drawing game, or a few conversation prompts. The preparation can happen before you meet, leaving your shared time for the activity itself.

You do not need a new gadget or a child’s chatbot account. Start with materials and a way of talking that your family already uses.

Choose the activity together

Ask what the child enjoys and check the plan with their parent or guardian. Consider reading level, available time, materials, and any adaptations that would make participation easier.

Share only the broad details an assistant needs. “A short drawing activity with paper and pencils” is enough; a child’s full name, photograph, school, and private circumstances are unnecessary.

If a child will interact directly with a service, first check its current age rules and guardian requirements. Our guide to helping children question AI covers family ground rules and checking answers.

Try a story you finish together

An adult could prepare an opening with this prompt:

Write the opening of a gentle, fictional story about two animals looking for a missing hat. Use short sentences and stop after 120 words at a point where we can choose what happens next. Include no frightening danger, personal information, or real-world factual claims. Give me two possible choices for the next scene.

Read the result yourself first and change anything unsuitable. Then read it aloud together, letting the child choose an ending, invent another character, or draw the missing hat.

Explain that it is a made-up story prepared with AI help. You can ignore the suggested choices and make up your own. The assistant does not need to receive the child’s response.

Make a paper drawing game

Ask for a few simple drawing prompts using only paper and pencils. Review them and choose one that suits both of you. For example, you might each draw an imaginary garden with three unusual things in it, then describe your choices.

You can do the same activity during a family call and hold the drawings up to the camera. There is no need to upload them to an AI service.

If you want clues or word games, check that the clues have sensible answers and that the language is understandable. AI-generated puzzles can be ambiguous or unsolvable.

Use a memory as a conversation starter

Ask the assistant for open questions about a general theme, such as favorite games or school lunches. Pick a question you are comfortable answering and invite the child to share their own view.

Tell the memory in your own words. If you are uncertain about a detail, say so; do not let AI fill in missing family history as fact. For a longer project, see our guide to turning family stories into a book.

Check with the people involved before recording a conversation or sharing family material. The activity can remain an ordinary conversation.

Review the suggestion before trying it

Check the materials, instructions, and setting yourself. For a simple first activity, avoid suggestions involving heat, tools, unfamiliar foods, or going somewhere without an adult’s review. Ask for a seated version, larger print, or fewer steps if that would help.

UNICEF’s guidance on AI and children emphasizes safety, privacy, and children’s best interests. A personalized suggestion does not establish that an activity is suitable for a particular child.

Let the plan change

Stop or switch activities if either of you loses interest. Ask what the child would like to repeat, change, or try next time.

Keep the idea if it helped you spend enjoyable time together. A good outcome might be one funny drawing or a conversation you would not otherwise have started; there is no need to turn it into a score or a claim about better learning.

Reviewed October 3, 2026.

AI disclosure: This article was drafted and revised using AI. Read our full disclaimer.