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You might be delighted about your upcoming move, but the same might not be true for every member of your household. Your children could very well see a move as a threat, because kids crave security and a move represents a lot of changes all at once. That’s why understanding and making allowances for the effects of moving on kids have to go hand-in-hand with the rest of your moving-related planning.
There are websites for kids about moving, which can help Internet-savvy children warm up to the process of leaving the old behind and welcoming the new. But visiting these can only help so much, because your children can’t curl up with a website. Reading books specially written to address the effects of moving on kids and discussing them can provide warmth that websites for kids about moving can’t. And if you make an event out of going to the library or bookstore with your children to find the books, you’ll help them feel part of the moving process and let them know how much you care.
The following books were written specifically to help with the effects of moving on kids:
Goodbye, Hello: Everything You Need to Help Your Child When Your Family Moves
by Seymour Chwast
Appropriate for parents and children 3-12 years This comprehensive book contains ideas for parents to help their children cope with moving and tools to put those ideas into practice. For children, there’s a blank book that will help them tell their own stories about the move. There are also change-of-address cards, markers a calendar and a glue stick.
Good-bye House
by Robin Ballard
Appropriate for children 3-8 years In Good-bye House, a little girl walks from room to room saying good-bye to the only home she has ever known. The author has a good sense of the child’s viewpoint and respects the specific the effects of moving on kids, so this book can provide comfort for younger children.
The Berenstain Bears’ Moving Day
by Stan and Jan Berenstain
Appropriate for children 4-8 years This story of the Bear family’s move to their tree house in Bear Country takes into account whether Brother Bear would like their new home and find new friends — feelings that will probably be quite familiar to your children.
The Leaving Morning
by Angela Johnson and David Soman
Appropriate for children 4-8 years This simple story tells of the last few days before a young boy’s family moves to a new house and how he copes. The universal nature of his story will provide reassurance for children facing relocation.
The Moving Book: A Kid’s Survival Guide
by Gabriel Davis and Sue Dennen
Appropriate for children 9-12 years This spiral-bound guide addresses the effects of moving on kids who are a little older by providing activities that educate them about various facets of moving, such as transporting a pet and packing personal belongings.