How To Make Your House Move Fun For Kids by Jane Spitz

Photo by Jeniffer Araújo

Moving to a new home is undeniably stressful. With so many things to do, plan, and at the same time worry about, you can easily forget the feelings of your kids once you tell them that the family is relocating. They might feel more uncertain and powerless about the process, and they don’t know what to do after leaving your current home. Luckily, you can think of many ways to make the transition a fun-filled adventure. 

Keep reading this article to learn how you can make your house move fun for kids.

1. Involve Your Kids In The House Hunt

If you want your kids to feel excited about the idea of moving, don’t hesitate to let them help in the house hunt. Make them feel that their opinions matter when picking out your new home. For instance, allow them to select the color of the rooms and ask them to imagine what they want their new spaces to look like.

In order to do this, bring your children when you do some house hunting. But, if you can’t make a house tour, share some pictures of your new house to help them picture out what their lives will be once you move in. Instead of thinking about the uncertainty, involving them in the house hunt can be an enjoyable experience for them.

2. Let Your Kids Create Their Treasure Boxes

While packing can be a tremendous job to do, it can still be an exciting task for your children. Let them pack their treasure boxes that contain their favorite items such as stuffed toys, blankets, books, and many more. Give them the freedom to choose which things go to their boxes. And to make packing a little more exciting, hide some surprises for them to find while they go through their stuff. These can be candies, stickers, etc.

Once their boxes are packed, allow your kids to do some box decorations using color pens, stickers, and many others. If you have older kids, ask them to decorate the boxes with colorful labels. By doing these packing activities, you can ease your kids’ anxiety brought about by moving.

3. Organize A Goodbye Party

One of the reasons why relocation can be a challenging experience for children is that they’ve already made good relationships with their classmates, friends, and neighbors. Therefore, to make this transition less dramatic but more fun, throw a goodbye party for their friends. Prepare some popcorns, cupcakes, candies, and popsicles for their guests. Allow your kids to say goodbye to their friends and use the opportunity to collect their addresses and contact information so they can communicate with one another.

And to make sure you’re putting enough attention to this party, hiring professional movers and packers can be an excellent option. While they handle the relocation for you, you can focus on how to make the remaining days of your children in your current home fun and memorable. That way, you can reduce the fear they might be feeling about the entire moving process.

4. Plan A Farewell Tour

Aside from a goodbye party, it’s also a good idea to plan a farewell tour for your kids before the moving day. Give them one last look at the place they’re leaving. You can start with their favorite areas, such as parks, schools, shopping malls, restaurants, and many more. Don’t hesitate to talk about the happy memories they have with the place.

If you can, help them take pictures so they can take a look at their old town even if they move to your new home. While it’s normal for children to be sad and lonely about the relocation, it’s best if you encourage them with the idea that there are several happy moments to look forward to in your new town or city.

Conclusion

Indeed, moving to a new home with kids comes with some challenges, especially if it involves how they feel about it. Thankfully, with the tips mentioned above, the whole process can be much easier and more fun for them.

Lastly, if you’re moving to Manhattan and other metropolitan cities, don’t forget your road music playlist and road games for your kids to enjoy. Doing so can help you make your move enjoyable while you entrust some complicated tasks to an experienced moving company.