While the upheaval of moving can be a stressful experience for any family, for younger children, the process can be confusing. If you are getting ready to relocate your family to a new city, there are steps you can take to ensure that your children stay relaxed throughout the process. Instead of a move to a big new house seeming scary or unnerving, you can make the experience fun and exciting for your children by adding a sense of adventure to the moving process.
If you have already chosen a new home in a new town, arranging for a pre-moving day visit to your new home can be a great idea. A few days before your trip, tell your children that you will be taking them on a special visit to explore their new house and neighborhood, so they can think about the things they want to see, such as backyard space or fun places in the neighborhood. On the day of your trip, take your children throughout the home and explain the setup. You can even use familiar objects or possessions to help ease the transition. For example, you can take the children into your new living room and say: “Your favorite comfy chair is going to go right here, against this wall.” This can help your children envision some of their most familiar things in the new space to make it more inviting. You can also allow your children to choose their new bedrooms to help them feel more involved in the moving process.
On your actual moving day, you should be sure to include your children and make arrangements to keep them entertained. For example, you can ask them to pack some of their toys away and allow them to carry their toys to the moving vehicle or car they will be traveling in. It is important to do this so that your children will not feel anxious or ignored, but it is also important to keep them out of harm’s way. Your moving day will require the physical moving of furniture and other heavy items, so you will want to be sure to keep your children from getting caught up underfoot. See if you can arrange for the children to stay with a neighbor or family member on moving day. Once all the heavy items are in place, you can bring your children home to help unpack.