Moving Tips: How to Pack and Move House with Children

Moving house can be a traumatic experience for young children. Whether you're moving across town or across the country, having to pack up the house and move is unsettling for children who may not understand. Using these tips can ease the transition of packing and moving house with children.

Pack and Move House with Children: The Explanation

In the flurry of planning your move, it's easy to overlook the very important detail of explaining things to your children. Use these tips when communicating with your child (found here) to make your conversation about the move easier.

An explanation of the move with a preschool-aged child could go like this: Billy, Dad got a new job and we're going to be moving into a new house. In the next couple weeks, we will be packing our things into boxes and on moving day, everything will go with us. All the furniture, toys, the television, and blankets are going with us to our new home. Does that sound like fun?

Pack and Move House with Children: Let Them Help

Kids can help pack and move house with enough supervision. While you are carefully packing the dishes in the kitchen, give your child a box to pack plastic food containers. If your child is a bit older, she can pack a box of dry foods.

Once the boxes are packed, give your child the marker and let him label each box. Not only does this make him feel important, it's also a spelling lesson!

Pack and Move House with Children: Pack Small Boxes

Children love to help when it comes to doing adult things. By packing up smaller boxes, they can help carry the boxes to the truck on moving day. Make sure you have all your boxes labeled, so you don't accidentally hand your five year old a box of breakables.

Pack and Move House with Children: Allow Each Child a "Treasure Bag"

If your children see you packing up all their favorite things into a box and close it up, they are going to panic. Give each child a plastic shopping bag and tell them to fill it up with all their treasures. To keep the treasure bag from getting too big and too heavy, remind them they are responsible for carrying their own bag.

Pack and Move House with Children: Let Them See Their New Home Before Moving Day

Children subscribe to the notion 'Seeing is Believing'. If possible, take your children to your new home. Allow them to look around and discover the nooks and crannies. Explain where all the furniture will go and where their rooms will be.

If it's not possible to take the children to the new house, show them photographs. Take pictures of all the rooms and draw in the furniture.

Pack and Move House with Children: After the Move

Don't be surprised if your children are particularly naughty until you get unpacked and settled. Children attach rules of behavior to specific locations, so they don't know how to behave in the new home. By incorporating some family rules (read about how to do this here), soon your home will be as harmonious as it was before the move.