For people who are looking to make a move with their family, it can be an exciting and very challenging time. Once a new home is finalized, there are always many tasks to get done before moving day. Making sure all the details and logistics are handled can seem overwhelming, especially for parents.
Helping Children Understand a Move
Depending on the age of a child, understanding why they are moving can be challenging. Children who are over the age of six can usually understand that they are going to be going to live in a new place. It is essential to help children understand why they are moving. Going to a new home can create fear in children, especially if they have lived in the same place for most of their lives. The good news is most children adapt well to moving to a new home if it is handled properly.
How to Help Children Get Excited About Moving
In many cases, a move can be stressful for children. The idea of a move can be a bit overwhelming for kids. It can also be challenging as they watch the things that bring them comfort be packed up and put away. Helping a child participate and get excited about the move can make a significant difference in helping them through the transition. If your home is adding on an extension or you are remodeling, Dix Home Builders has some great resources for making those changes to your home which will also help your child get excited.
There are five great ways to help kids get excited about moving into a new home
Take the Measurements of Their New Room and Plan a Design with Them
- By doing this, the child can get a better understanding of where they are going to be living. Visualization can be a great way to help children cope and get excited. By involving them in the design process, they will feel a sense of accomplishment about their new room.
Plan the Color Scheme of the Room with Them
- Most children are naturally creative. Letting them choose the color schemes will help them hone their creativity and it will help get them excited about their new space.
Take a Trip to The Store to Buy New Items for their New Room with Them
- Allowing your child to come along with you to choose new room decor will help them understand that they have a place in this new home with you. By doing this, they can be creative, ask questions, and get excited about the move!
Take Pictures of The New Room They are Going To Move Into and Put it On Their Wall
- If you let them visualize where they are going to be, it will help them get excited and start planning how they will want to place all of their toys and decorations. By starting to get them excited well before the move, they will be better prepared when the move takes place.
Have Them Help Pack and Have a Pizza Party
- Everything we have gone over has helped the child become excited to move. A final “hurrah” to their current situation by way of a pizza party will help them remain excited and give them time to say goodbye to their current home.
How to Help Children Prepare For the Move
By doing these five things, parents can help a child to be a participant in the process. Through these tasks, they can begin to imagine and prepare for their life in their new home. Starting these projects with a child should begin as soon as the new home is secure. This will give them months to prepare their minds for the challenges that will come with this life change.
If handled properly, children will begin to plan for the move with excitement and look forward to being able to create their space. It can be empowering for a child to feel they have choices in the process that can seem so much out of their control. Once they understand that they are a part of the process, and they can help create the space they are moving into, their fears can readily be turned into creativity.
During the time leading up to the move, it is important to have plenty of conversations about the new home and leaving where you live now. There may be some feelings of sorrow for children if they are leaving a neighborhood where they have many friends. It is essential to discuss this openly and look at ways to stay in touch with these friends. This will help them be more comfortable with the changes ahead.
Making a move to a new home certainly can be filled with many changes and a great deal of stress for parents and their kids. But finding ways to look forward to the many wonderful and exciting aspects of the new home can be vital to helping families with children transition without having significant stress or anxiety to dampen the adventure.
Asking my kids to help me design their new rooms definitely sounds like a fun idea, so I appreciate you talking about it. My kids have always been excited to have their own rooms, so letting them help out might motivate them a lot more to help us out with the packing. I’ll make sure to use this as their motivation so we can make things easier when we hire movers in the area.