Home Buyer's Guide:
Helping Children Cope With Moving
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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.
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Assure children that you won't forget their friends.
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Make a scrapbook of the old home and neighborhood.
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Throw a goodbye party. At the party, have their friends sign a t-shirt.
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Have your children write goodbye letters and enclose their new address. You may wish to call the other children's parents so that they will encourage return letters.
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When packing, give your children their own boxes and let them decorate them.
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Start a scrapbook for your new home.
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Visit your children's new school, park, church, etc...Take a camera.
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Help your children invite new friends over to your new home.
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Let your children choose a new favorite restaurant. This will help them feel in control of their new environment.
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Encourage your children to send letters about their new home to their new friends.
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Involve your children in groups, sports, and activities like the ones they used to participate in.
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Remember, even if you only lived in a home for a few years, to a young child it is nearly their entire lifetime.