So, you travel for work sometimes, and you connect with your kids in the classic manner: a phone call each night. That may work just fine, but sometimes it’s fun to shake things up a bit and connect in different ways, using the marvels of modern technology. Here are seven ways to mix it up that I think are fun and unexpected (kids love surprises):

1. Send photos. Thanks to camera phones, it’s never been easier. Snap shots of yourself in context (airport gate, hotel front desk, Golden Gate Bridge in the background). It’s a great way to help them really experience the fact that you’re in a different city, and for older kids can be a great conversation starter. If your kids are in the first- through third-grade range, Flat Stanley (the book by Jeff Brown in which Stanley finds the up side of being flattened by a bulletin board — he can slip into an envelope and travel anywhere) can be your new best friend. Take Stanley around with you and shoot photos of him enjoying your business trip.

2. If your child has a phone, try texting, even if it’s not something you usually do. You can receive and send messages during meetings, before takeoff, or any situation that’s more covert than a phone call demands.

3. XXOO. It’s low-tech/high-touch, but if you leave the house before kids are awake, draw an X or an O on their hands, for a surprise hug or kiss when they wake up. The high-tech version: They can take photos and hug and kiss you back by sending them to your phone.

4. “Play” on a social networking site. There are lots of fun ways to express affection online these days. On Facebook, post a message on the wall, give a gift (using Facebook’s “currency”) of a Hawaiian shirt or a balloon, poke or tickle.

5. Play a game online together. Using Windows Live Messenger, you can play with each other via IM, using games like Billiards, Wheel of Fortune, or Chess. Or It’s Your Turn offers dozens of classic games online. Log on and select the person you want to play against–your child. For these, you don’t need to be “live” at the same time.

6. Try a new way to communicate. If you usually phone, try email or texting. Or really surprise them and send an old-fashioned letter or postcard.

7. Use Skype, a VOIP service, plus two eyeball video Web cams (like Logitech Quickcam Chat — $30 each) to simulate “in person” talking. Skype is one of the cheapest way to make a call — in fact, Skype-to-Skype calls are free — so adding its service to what you already have couldn’t be more affordable. Then just buy two Web cams–one for home and one for the road. And it’s as it you never left. Almost.