Moving

My husband and I are getting for a big move.  We are only moving 4 blocks away but it is to a much bigger place and will most likely be the place that we raise our family.

That being said, I got to thinking about children and moving.  It can be kind of scary for young children to move; even if it is to a better place.  Boxing things up to a child who is barely beginning to understand the world can be a bit intimidating and confusing.

A few years ago I had the privilege of working in a center that was building a brand new center and we would be strategically moving.  Part of that moving meant that the classrooms would begin to be boxed up.

As we looked for ways to make the children comfortable with the move we ended up having many discussions with the teachers, parents, and with the children.

We brought the children over for a tour of their new place.  Some were very excited about this move, others not so much.  One child, I remember, said, “Miss Jenni, I don’t WANT to move I like our classroom.  I’m NOT moving.”

One way that we made this a bit easier for them was to make sure they were involved in some way of packing up the classrooms.  Children helped put supplies from the cabinets into the boxes, helped take loads of trash to the dumpster, and we talked about what they would like to see in the new classroom.

The last thing we did to help in this move was have them move their own things.  Since everything else was being put into boxes, their things were as well.  Each child brought a shoe box.  They packed their things from their cubbies into the boxes, taped them up with packing tape, and put them in the pile of boxes to be moved with the rest of the things.

Okay, some of the children didn’t trust the movers so they brought their boxes home and, on their first day at the new place, brought their own box.  However, those that did leave their boxes were able to unpack it when they arrived.

It was a great way for them to take ownership in their new classroom and really helped transition them to the new place.

Have you ever had to move your center?  How did you handle it?  How did the children handle it?