How To Make Moving Fun For Kids Friday Sep 29, 2017

Kids have an especially hard time coping with change, and moving is one of the biggest changes of all. Use these activities to make the process more fun for them. Their positive attitude about moving might just rub off on you, too!

Give Them Perspective

Help your kids understand what moving will mean in the long term. They might be leaving behind friends, family, and everything else familiar, but they’ll have new opportunities for fun and connection at their new home.

If they have something to look forward to right away, they’ll feel more at ease about leaving. Tell them all about the new parks and attractions they’re going to see. Show them pictures of the new house (and especially their bedroom), find out about their new school, and sign them up for a sports team or a class depending on their hobbies.

Distract Them With Activities

1. The going on a picnic game can be altered slightly for packing boxes. You can challenge your kids to go back and forth naming an item to pack beginning with each letter of the alphabet or beginning with the first letter of their name. 
2. Make your kids responsible for sorting and organizing all the items in their room by category, including clothing, toys, books, electronics, and papers. Give them plenty of time to do this in the weeks before moving so they can pause to look over toys and mementos that they haven’t seen in a while.
3. Give the kids free reign over decorating the boxes with labels, markers, crayons, and stickers. The boxes will be easier for you to identify at a glance and their artwork will brighten up the new house after the truck is unloaded.

Avoid Road Trip Boredom

1. Bring a portable movie player or tablet with plenty of movies or TV shows to watch. If looking at screens makes your kids car sick, bring some audio books instead.
2. Give them the option to take a nap by loading the back seat with pillows and blankets and packing a sleep mask and ear plugs (beware of the choking hazard for small children), but keep safety in mind. Your child should never unbuckle their seatbelt while the car is moving.

Ease Them into Their New Home

1. Let them make a plan about how to organize and decorate their bedroom. They’ll feel more comfortable in a space that they’ve made their own and they’ll be more likely to keep it neat.
2. Go “camping” in the living room on the first night. Use tents, mattresses, or simply sleeping bags and pillows on the floor. Your presence will help them get used to the new house without getting them in the habit of sleeping in your bed.
3. There are hardly any toys better than a cardboard box! Let them use some scissors, tape, and their imagination to construct cars, rocket ships, and forts.

We’ve been moving families with kids since 1939. Need more advice about how to make moving fun for kids? All you have to do is ask.

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