Moving the family to a new home is a big project. This is especially true when you also have to make sure that you keep your children entertained. Instead of renting a movie, or asking the grandparents to look after them as you pack up your home and load boxes into your rental truck or van, you can involve them in the moving process.
You’ll be shocked at how much of a help they can be. After all, a lot of the things that you are loading onto the rental truck are theirs to begin with, so why shouldn’t they pitch in? Here are 5 tips to make moving houses with kids a breeze…
1. Be positive
As you plan the big move, it’s a great idea to always appear positive in front of your children. It’s amazing what they pick up on, and if they get the sense that this is going to be a stressful and boring couple of weeks, it’s not going to be a pleasant ride for anyone. The best approach is to find ways to keep them curious and engaged throughout the moving process.
2. Hold a yard sale
Children love a fun project. By holding a yard sale, you will be able to enlist the help of your children and help them to get rid of some of their old unwanted toys, along with anything that you no longer need for your new home. In the rental moving truck or van, every bit of space is important.
If you are able to sell just one box of toys, it’s well worth the extra effort of a yard sale. This is also a great opportunity to teach the children some communication skills, as they may need to haggle with some customers.
3. Donation
Before you load up the car rental, you should think about the clothes that no longer fit your children. Consider donating what you can’t sell. If your children are unfamiliar with the concept of donating, this is a great opportunity to show them that donating clothes and toys to those less fortunate is important.
A great strategy that you can employ here is that for every 20 toys they donate, they get a new one instead. Just think how many extra boxes you won’t have to move!
4. Teach organisational skills
When moving houses, it is very important that each box is clearly labelled and organised in a way that makes it easy to unpack. For example, you may want to organise by room, so that you can unload the boxes into their respective rooms straight off the truck. Organising small items is a great activity that can be done by children. This can help you to trim some valuable time from a packing session.
5. When all else fails – bribery!
Yes! You know this works well with any child. If they work hard and are able to sell or donate some of their toys and clothes they will probably deserve a reward. What the reward is, is totally up to you. Just make sure to get the help up front!
Packing up your house to load into a rental car, van or truck doesn’t need to be a stressful time for you and the children. By involving your kids in the move, you’ll not only save time and energy, you will also be helping them get used to the idea of moving out. If they’re in any way troubled by the move, this can be very important.
There will, of course, be aspects of the packing up and moving that they will be too young to help you with. With the right attitude, your kids will be diligent worker bees to make the move go swimmingly.
