How to Video Call Your Grandchildren on WhatsApp (Step-by-Step)

Yes — you can video call your grandchildren on WhatsApp today, even if you have never made a video call in your life. If you can open an app and tap one button, you can do this. All you need is the WhatsApp app on your phone and your grandchild's phone number saved in your contacts. The steps below take about five minutes the first time, and after that it becomes as easy as answering an ordinary phone call. We will walk through it slowly, one tap at a time, for both Android phones and iPhones.

What You Need Before You Start

Before the first call, make sure four simple things are in place. None of them cost money:

1. WhatsApp installed on your phone. Look for the green icon — it is a green speech bubble with a white telephone handset inside it. If you cannot find it anywhere, ask a family member to install it for you from the app store; it is free.

2. Your grandchild's phone number saved in your contacts. Open the Contacts app (or the phone app's Contacts tab) and check their name is there. WhatsApp finds people by phone number, so the number must be saved correctly, including the area code.

3. An internet connection. This can be your home Wi-Fi (the steadiest choice) or your phone's mobile data. A video call does not use your regular phone minutes at all — it travels over the internet, which is why it is free.

4. WhatsApp on their phone too. Both people need WhatsApp for this to work. Nearly every family has it already; if your grandchildren do not, just ask them to install it — it takes them about a minute.

One reassuring fact before we begin: a WhatsApp video call will never surprise you with a bill — it is free on Wi-Fi, and uses only a small amount of data otherwise. Now, let us make the call.

Start a Video Call on WhatsApp: Android

These steps are identical on Samsung, Google Pixel, Motorola, and other Android phones — WhatsApp looks the same on all of them:

1. Open WhatsApp — tap the green speech-bubble icon on your home screen or in your app list.
2. Tap Chats at the bottom of the screen. This shows everyone you have messaged before.
3. Find your grandchild in the list and tap their name. This opens your conversation with them. (If you cannot see them, tap the search icon — the small magnifying glass at the top — and type their name.)
4. At the top of the chat, you will see two small icons: a telephone handset and a video camera. Tap the video camera icon. This starts the video call.
5. Your phone will show the word "Calling" and you will hear a ringing sound, just like a normal phone call. Wait patiently — give them time to notice and answer.
6. When their face appears on your screen, you are connected. You can now see and hear each other. The small picture in the corner is your own face — that is what they see.
7. During the call you will see a few icons at the bottom of the screen. You can ignore all of them if you like — just talk naturally.
8. When you are finished, tap the red button — a red circle with a telephone handset pointing down. This hangs up the call.

That is the whole thing: open the chat, tap the video camera icon, wait for them to answer. The first call takes five minutes; the second takes thirty seconds. If you tap the telephone icon by mistake, do not worry — that starts a voice-only call. Hang up and tap the camera icon instead.

Start a Video Call on WhatsApp: iPhone

On an iPhone the process is nearly the same:

1. Open WhatsApp — the green speech-bubble icon on your home screen.
2. Tap Chats at the bottom of the screen.
3. Tap your grandchild's name to open your conversation with them. Use the search box at the top if the list is long.
4. At the top of the chat, next to your grandchild's name, tap the video camera icon. It sits beside the telephone icon.
5. If a small message appears asking whether WhatsApp can access your camera and microphone, tap "OK" or "Allow". WhatsApp needs this permission to show your picture and pick up your voice. You only have to allow this once.
6. Wait for the ringing to stop and their face to appear. When you see them, you are connected — the little picture in the corner is what they see of you.
7. To end the call, tap the red button at the bottom of the screen — a red circle with a telephone handset in it.

Apple also has its own video calling app, FaceTime (the blue icon with a white video camera), but it only works between Apple devices — which is why families so often prefer WhatsApp: it works between iPhones and Androids alike, so everyone can join.

How to Answer an Incoming WhatsApp Video Call

Sooner or later — probably very soon — your grandchild will call you. Here is what happens and what to do:

Your phone will ring, and the screen will show their name and photo with the words "WhatsApp Video" underneath — plus a small video camera picture, so you know it is a video call and not a voice call.

On an iPhone: slide the "slide to answer" bar from left to right, or if you see two buttons, tap the green Accept button. Ignore the red Decline button.

On an Android phone: swipe the green circle with the telephone handset upward, or tap Accept if buttons are shown instead. The green one always means answer; the red one always means decline.

After answering, hold the phone up so your face is in the little picture in the corner — that is the view they get. If you cannot see them at first, give it two or three seconds; the picture often arrives a moment after the sound.

If the call comes while your phone is locked, it still works — just answer the same way. And if you miss the call, do not feel bad: tap the video camera icon next to their name in your Chats list to call them back.

Video Call the Whole Family at Once (Group Call)

WhatsApp lets up to 32 people join one video call — more than enough for the whole family. There are two easy ways to do it:

From a family group chat: open the group, tap the video camera icon at the top, tick the names of the people you want to include, then tap video camera again to start. Everyone you chose gets invited at once.

During a call you are already on: tap the "add person" icon at the top of the call screen (it looks like a person with a plus sign), choose the contact, and tap Add. They join the same call.

Group calls are wonderful for birthdays and holidays. One tip: in a big group call, ask everyone to mute their microphone (the microphone icon) when they are not speaking — it keeps the sound clear, and unmuting takes one tap.

How to See and Hear Each Other Better

Five small habits make every video call noticeably better. None require any skill:

Face a light. Sit facing a window or a lamp, so the light falls on your face. If the light is behind you, they will see only a dark shadow where your face should be. You do not need special lighting — a window in front of you is perfect.

Prop the phone up instead of holding it. Resting the phone against a book, a mug, or a phone stand keeps the picture steady and frees your hands. A wobbly, moving picture is tiring to watch; a still one feels like sitting across the table.

Hold the phone at face level. Looking slightly down at the phone is fine, but if the camera points up at you from your lap, all they see is the ceiling. A small stack of books under the phone fixes this in seconds.

Turn the volume up before the call. Press the volume-up button on the side of your phone until the sound is comfortable. If your grandchildren sound far away, tap the speaker icon during the call (it looks like a speaker cone) — this switches the sound from the small earpiece to the phone's loud speaker.

Learn two icons. The microphone icon mutes and unmutes you — tap it once when the doorbell rings, tap it again when you are ready to talk. The camera icon with two curved arrows flips between your face and whatever your phone is pointed at — handy when you want to show them the garden, the new curtains, or the cake you baked. And if the sound echoes, it usually means two devices in the same room both have the call open — close one of them and the echo vanishes.

Fix Common WhatsApp Video Call Problems

Almost every video call hiccup has a simple fix. Find your problem in the table and try the matching solution:

If the call will not connect after a couple of tries, close WhatsApp completely and open it again, or restart your phone. Nine times out of ten, the next call goes through.

Stay Safe: Only Call People You Know

Video calls are for people you know and love. A few simple habits keep them that way:

Answer video calls only from people in your contacts. If a video call comes in from a number you do not recognize, let it ring. Real family will leave a message or text you; strangers calling on video is a classic trick.

Never send money or gift cards because someone "called for help." This is important enough to say twice: if anyone — even someone who looks like a grandchild on video — asks you to send money urgently, hang up and call your family back on their known number. Scammers can now fake voices and even faces. A family safe word (a silly word only your real family knows) settles the question instantly: ask for it, and a scammer cannot answer.

Do not share personal details with a stranger. Your address, bank details, and passwords are never needed for a video call — not ever.

Scammers also reach seniors through text messages pretending to be delivery companies. Our guide on how to recognize a fake delivery text message shows exactly what those look like, and our guide on how to block spam text messages on Android keeps junk out of your list.

Quick answers

The 30-second version: Open WhatsApp, open the chat with your grandchild, tap the video camera icon at the top, and wait for them to answer. Answering a call: tap or swipe the green button, never the red one.

Both sides need WhatsApp, and the call is free. Use Wi-Fi for the steadiest picture; mobile data works too. Nothing here can break your phone or cost you money.

Make it a habit. A short call every week means more to grandchildren than a long call once a year — and each one gets easier than the last. Once you are comfortable, browse Phone Technology for more plain-language guides, such as how to make text bigger on Android or increase text size on iPhone so every name and message is easy to read. You can always start over from the SeniorPhoneGuide homepage or the how-to guides hub.