Get Your Kids Involved In Your Move: How You Can Keep Them Active And Participating

23 March 2015
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Moving to a new home, even with the help of a company like http://redondovanandstorage.com, is a huge undertaking, and it can be overwhelming for even the adults in the household. For children, leaving a familiar home and moving to a new one is also a time of potential stress. That's why you should take some time to prepare for their involvement in the big day itself as well as the events leading up to and following it. One of the best ways to help your children adjust to the idea of moving is by getting them involved in the work of moving itself. Below are some specific ways to provide your kids with meaningful move-related work:

Assign manageable, age-appropriate tasks

While not all kids are going to be able to provide assistance for the move, you probably will be surprised at how even young children can perform some truly-helpful tasks. Assign a written list of chores to your kids that spells-out what they are to do, and provide them with measurable goals that can indicate to everyone involved when the job is done. Try not to leave them with a list of tasks too open-ended or impossible to achieve, or they will become bored or frustrated and abandon their jobs halfway through the process. If you are lacking for ideas, below are a few possibilities that will help kids become meaningfully involved during the moving process:

Packing their belongings

For the youngest children, packing their belongings can help them feel a sense of accomplishment plus offer them security that their favorite possessions are going along for the journey. Since children in this age range aren't going to understand most of the logistics and practical considerations of packing, you will need to provide them with some pre-planned constraints that makes their job simpler and more fool-proof. For example, an appropriate job to give a three year-old is packing their stuffed animals in a box. In that scenario, you would need to provide a box that is appropriately-sized, and you would also want to probably pre-arrange a few of the stuffed animals so your child understands the task.

For the older kids, their task responsibility level should be increased accordingly. For example, ask your children to sort through toys and appropriately dispose of those they no longer wish to own; this is a great opportunity to provide them with lessons about downsizing possessions as well as donating to charity. You still need to provide them with supervision, of course, and be sure they don't accidentally toss something of sentimental or financial worth. However, as much as possible, allow kids in this age range to make decisions so they are more personally-invested in the move.

Cleaning up the old house

During packing and after everything is packed and loaded, your old house is going to need a final cleaning. This is another great opportunity to involved your kids by allowing them to help clean; not only will it help you save time, they will get a chance to say goodbye to their home with a final, hands-on encounter. Be sure to make cleaning tasks age-appropriate; younger kids can operate a vacuum cleaner and wipe down surfaces, while the older kids can clean blinds and scrub bathtubs, for example. Teens can repair nail holes with filler and paint areas that need a fresh coat, as well as replace air conditioning and heating filters.

Research your new hometown

If you are moving to a new location away from your current town or city, then assigning kids "mini-research" projects can help them feel more involved as well as build emotional connections to their new home. Your older kids and teens can research any number of things, but the following can accelerate their involvement with a new community:

  • Location of schools
  • Favorite gathering spots for older kids and teens
  • Recreational and sporting activities in the new community

Many teenagers can help you scout-out utility services and providers as well as other useful information regarding relocation.