Are you moving soon, and you want to involve your kids in moving and packing process? A2B Moving and Storage will help you have a smooth transition into your new forever home! Every relocation poses specific challenges, but moving with kids is special. You need to take care of the kids’ emotions, as well as their well-being during the whole moving process – and combining being totally present and dedicated to both can sometimes prove to be very hard. To find out how to involve your kids in moving and packing process, and make it as easy as possible for both you and your children – keep on reading!
Did you tell your kids you’re moving?
Step number one to involving your kids in the relocation process is to tell them you’re relocating. Don’t procrastinate telling them about moving. The earlier you tell them, the more time they’ll have to mentally adapt and prepare for the relocation. Make sure to sit them down and explain all the positive sides of the new place and the experiences. Offer your kid to continue the same or similar activities that it loved doing at the place you’re leaving. Knowing that they will be able to return to a similar routine will help kids adapt and warm them up to the idea of a new home and a place. If you can, make sure that they’re not home when the residential movers come. While they might react negatively at first, you have to give them time. Don’t get angry at them for not understanding what’s going on, or that it’s a necessity. Teach them how to guide their emotions and handle them well.
Let the kids pack their toys
Prepare the cardboard box for your kids and place it in their room. Tell them to pack all of their soft toys that they want to have immediately in a new room. Give them more cardboard boxes if needed, but not too much – the tree should be the most. Show them what kind of toys go in each one, and if some of the toys have to be placed in a plastic bag before they go into the box, do that too and show them. You can also place a type of toy and how it should be packed in front of the box for reference, or draw the “guide” on the boxes. It will be fun for a kid, and it will have something to help resolve the dilemma if it comes up. Make sure that you don’t restrict the kid in the process. It’s best that you’re there in the kids’ room when the kid is doing it, just to make sure that they are packing items that are safe for them.
Give them boxes to draw on
To involve your kids in moving and packing process, assign them a few cardboard boxes. Allow them to paint on the outside of boxes. Those can be the boxes in which your kids will pack their toys and clothes, so they’re “labeling” the boxes in their own unique ways. They can place the items inside them as well – clothes, blankets, pillows, toys, and everything else that’s safe for them to handle. If they’re not that young, they can also pack their school books and other personal items.
Have your kids pack their moving-day bag
Give a backpack or a small bag to your kids and let them pack their own necessities. Tell them what they need to pack and let them personalize the content. If you want, you can make a dinner night with your kids the day before the move. Make a fun dinner night, and bake muffins or make sandwiches for the following days. Let the kids decorate the food themselves if they feel like it. Whenever you can include them in the process, do it. This will help them deal with the fact that they’re moving – of course, this isn’t about the items they’ll pack the night before the moving. This is about the whole moving and relocation process that they’re going through.
Let the kids make their own room
Whether you hire local movers or long-distance movers, the items that the kids will be able to pack won’t be the ones that can easily break or get damaged. That’s also why you can let them take the items out of the boxes and place them anywhere in the room they like, even if only for the first few days. Opt to make the transition as least stressful as possible. The room arrangement can always be changed, but the way that the kids perceive the transition emotionally can’t. Let them make the bed, place their toys and favorite items around the room, or even let them sleep with you for two or three days. This will make them feel comfortable and loved, but it shouldn’t last a long time.
What else can you do to involve your kids in moving and packing process?
Let’s take a look at some more actions that you can take to involve your kids in moving and packing process:
- Let them pack the soft items around the house – the linen, blankets, clothes, and similar items that they can be left alone with
- If they’re big enough, have them help you with any packing task that is suitable to their age
- During the process of moving out and moving in, you can let them do simple deeds like clean the floor or placing the cardboard sheets
All in all, everything they’re doing should be appropriate for their age, as well as safe.
Everything is easier with the right movers!
As you are well aware by now, the right movers can make or break your whole moving process. When you find the movers that are the right fit, you can easily devote yourself to the tasks that aren’t moving related. You’ll have peace of mind, and be sure that the items will be handled properly and with great care. The time you’ll have for kids will be spent well because your mind won’t be elsewhere. Moreover, quality movers will transfer your items safely to the new location. What are you waiting for? Give us a call! You too can have a stress-free move that you’ve been dreaming of!
