HELPING CHILDREN COPE WITH A MOVE

1. Show the children the new home and their new room prior to moving. If this is not possible, pictures or videos will help them visualize where they are going.
   
   
2. Assure children that you won't forget their friends.
   
   
3. Make a scrapbook of the old home and neighborhood.
   
   
4. Throw a good-bye party. At the party have their friends sign a tee shirt.
   
   
5. Have your children write good-bye letters and enclose their new address. You may wish to call the other children's parents so they will encourage return letters.
   
   
6. When packing, give them their own box. They can decorate it so they know which one it is.
   
   
7. If you move far away buy postcards when you stop so they can remember the trip.
   
   
8. When unpacking, allow them to unpack their treasures, then let them play with the boxes while you unpack.
   
   
9. Start a scrapbook for their new home. Include a diary of "My first..."
   
   
10. Visit their new school, park, church. Take a camera and snap some photos!
    
    
11. Have your children invite new friends over to the house.
    
    
12. Let them choose a favorite restaurant. This will help them feel in control of their New World.
    
    
13. Encourage them to send letters about their new home, to their friends.
    
    
14. Involve your children in groups, sports, and activities like the ones they used to participate in.
    
    
15. Even if you only lived in a home a few years, to a young child, it is nearly their entire lifetime!