Staying in touch - kids

[nooka]

Hi there,
I was wondering if anyone had found a cool way for children (in my case 7 and 8) to stay in touch with friends back home? I was thinking something blog type and wondering if anyone had found something simple and safe for kids to use?

I'm not too keen on having a blog myself, but thought it might encourage the children's creative skills!

[chloeb2002]

encourage poelpe to have x boxes! i have computer games but ours has been invaluable for live chats with all kinds of friends and relos!

[egypt]

skype? with webcam

only prob is timing so you are online at the same time.

[dodgykeeper]

A webcam is invaluable. We gave some as gifts before we left to family and best friends and helped set them up so there would be no problems. Myspace/ facebook/bebo are all really easy ways of sharing info with people without writing multiple emails and required no knowledge of web design etc. Our dd (just turned 8) uses facebook with a little help. You need to be careful about what they are doing and seeing and make sure that they know only to accept invites from people they know plus we found that less tech minded parents were not keen to let their children use these sites.
Both our dcs have learned to use powerpoint and have produced slideshows which we send home on disc and gets passed around their friends. We got new editing software at Christmas and this time they made a video blog which they have just sent.
Email is also useful and mos people now have access. Our dcs use sites such as hoopsandyoyo.co.uk to send fun free ecards when they dont have time for a real message.
Another thing we did was make little gift packs before we left which had our new contact details, a blank card and a stamped addressed envelope. The kids gave them to anyone they wanted to hear from and they got a gradual stream on mail over the first few months they were here.
You can also let people know what you've been up to through photos. You can use sites like Kodak, Walmart, Snapfish, to upload your photos and add captions. You then send the link to anyone you want to see them. Or you can use Picasa2 to send actual photo files via email.
There are so many ways to keep in touch. The biggest challenge is finding time!

[nooka]

Sorry didn't see the posts here (moving home a bit lately!). Thanks for ideas. We are fine on the phone as we have a virtual London telephone number, so not using skype, which seemed a bit tricky as you have to sign up for at both ends which is a bit tricky when you don't really know how techie the parents of the friends are (and my family are so not techie!). We have a closed Facebook account for photos only (dh doesn't want anyone contacting him ) and the guys both have email accounts. But they are not great at writing (esp ds who is dyslexic) and emails aren't very exiting to do I guess. Maybe the slideshow on CD idea would work best. Unfortunately we didn't have an address to give anyone when we left! I guess I was hoping that someone might have developed some easy to use web software for kids.