What do you do when you and your relatives are just not geographically in sync? I love that tech can allow you to raise your kiddos to have meaningful relationships with their far away relatives Skype certainly helps. But now there is a super engaging way to make those connections even more fun for kids, believe it or not, through Google Plus.

Scoot and Doodle is a cool program on Google+ Hangouts that allows kids to doodle and play games with any of their cousins, grandparents, or long distance friends, no matter their location. Well, they have to have WiFi, but you get the picture.

It’s not just doodling by the way. There are lots of cool ways to use Scoot and Doodle. You can play good ol’ Hangman if that’s what you’re feeling, but you can also draw a picture together. Or heck, get homework help from the uncle who just happens to be an engineeer. It’s useful and silly and fun and the entire interface feels like you are sharing something really special. The cool thing is that tons of people can jump in on the fun.

Another sweet aspect of Scoot and Doodle is that it can be used for work meetings. It can effectively serve as a big white board. Who am I kidding — employees can just sketch their own masterpieces during the super boring “planning” sessions.

Now I’ve got to admit, I would have much preferred a Facebook app. Not as many of my relatives are on Google Plus and I’ve found that a lot of people are reluctant to embark on yet another social media platform just to play with this. That will be your biggest barrier to overcome. But once you do? I think you’ll love it

Check out Scoot and Doodle on Google+ Hangouts