No matter what their age is, for any child moving is a big transition. Kids have to leave their old home, move to a new one, leave behind their old friends and experience disruption to their routine.
Although you can’t eliminate the moving-related worries your kids will have, there are still some tangible things you can do to help make this process easier. The following are our best tips on how to help children ease into their upcoming move:
Involve Them In The Moving Process
Between finding a new home, packing and getting everything coordinated with your movers and services, it can be simple to overlook your children in the moving process.
There are a couple of things you can do. The kids can help you narrow down which houses you are considering, give you their top color picks for repainting the living room walls and help you run your yard sale.
If you have small kids, there are many creative ways you can re-purpose packing material to generate some entertainment on moving day – how about a moving-box fort. You can also allow the kids to pack a couple of moving boxes themselves.
As an added tip, you could customize the moving box labels, with your children’s names written on them, and allow them to decorate their moving boxes with stickers – which is something they will undoubtedly absolutely love!
Take Advantage Of Time
In some situations, you might have several months to get prepared for your move. However, in other cases, you might only have a few weeks.
The main advice we have is to use the time to your advantage. Prepare your children for the upcoming move by
- Providing them with as much information as possible about their new home,
- give them photos of what their new bedroom will look like,
- pics of the local playground or
- where they’ll be going to school (you could even try scheduling a school tour and see if you can meet with their new teacher).
Visit Your New Neighborhood
Not every parent will be able to take their kids to visit their new neighborhood before moving. However, if you can, plan to take a walking tour of their new school, the downtown area and your new community.
Before visiting, pick up one of the local newspapers, to see what types of kids-oriented activities will be taking place during your stay. Visiting a local recreation center or sports field could help to open their eyes to their new neighborhood they’ll be living in.
Partner With a Kids-Friendly Mover
According to On your moving day, most likely you will be bogged down with all of the logistics of packing your kitchen and coordinating with the movers. This may leave your children feeling overlooked during the moving process.
Check out a moving company’s blog or website. See if there are any special services or offers regarding children.
Some moving companies pay for doggy daycare or childcare services on your moving day.
Other moving companies have come up with creative ways for engaging children on moving day. For example, such as giving them a kid’s kit (containing things like drawings and a coloring book) that they can keep busy with during the moving process.
Host a Goodbye Party
According to Jonnie of JTMelia Movers, there are plenty of things for kids to be anxious about the move including
- having to make new friends,
- moving to a new neighborhood and
- their last day at their old school.
If you host a goodbye party, it can provide your kids with some closure for leaving their old home and friends.
Ask your child’s friends to bring some mementos to the party, so your kids will remember them after they move.
Minimize The Amount Of Change
It’s essential to reduce the volume of change, especially if you’ll be moving with young children. You might be moving into a new home or maybe a new state.
You can help to keep things as familiar as possible, by setting their bedroom furniture the same way or maintaining your old daily routines. Also try to preserve whatever old traditions you had in your old house, like Sunday morning brunch or family movie nights.
It will help a lot when it comes to easing the transition.
Pack Your “Moving-Day” Bag
Your children probably will not want to be separated for a week from their Nintendo or favorite teddy bear. Therefore, be sure you pack a “moving day” bag before moving day.
Explain to your kids it may take a couple of weeks for all of your moving boxes to get unpacked. Anything they want to have with them they should put into their “moving-day” bag.
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