Moving house with children can be a true challenge in itself.
Sooner or later, your personal packing checklist will lead you to your kids’ room.
Packing your children’s room for moving is anything but easy due to the large number of kids’ stuff there: toys, books, clothes, shoes, and even furniture.
Follow these 7 steps to follow your kids’ room in the most efficient way.
When you’re packing to move out, it’s important to leave packing your kids’ room for last (still before packing the bathroom though) so that your children can have their room intact for as long as possible. Young kids thrive on routine and consistency, so minimize the stress on your loved ones by packing up the rest of the house first.
However, sooner or later your PACKING TIMELINE will take you to your children’s room. And when that happens, you’d better be prepared for that specific packing task by knowing what to expect in terms of difficulties and challenges.
Packing for a move with kids can be hard and easy at the same time depending on how ready you are for the task at hand. Here are some packing tips you can use to make packing your kids’ room as easy and efficient as possible.
This is our 7-step guide to packing a kid’s room for moving.
Step 1. Explain the concept of moving to your kids
Before you can start packing up your kids’ room, you’re going to have to make sure your little ones know what is happening, and why it is happening. Be aware that children can have a hard time understanding the concept of moving to another home.
Depending on their age, some young children may wrongfully think that when their toys, books, and other things are packed away, they will never see them again.
And if your own kids are unprepared for what they are witnessing, your actions are likely to upset them, stress them out, and even scare them.
After all, how would you feel if you saw somebody packing away your prized possessions without any reasonable explanation?
This is exactly where your role as a caring parent comes in – you need to take the time to explain to your young children that the process of moving to a new home requires temporary packing.
Assure your loved ones that their things need to be packed so that they can be protected during the move, and once you move into the new place, they will have back all their treasured belongings.
Use words and phrases that you know your kids will understand, and remember to focus on the positive aspects of the house move.
Step 2. Keep your children involved in the packing task
The process of moving to a new home will be a stressful period for everyone, especially for younger children who will sense that something big is about to happen and may react differently to the major change in their lives.
One way to make the house move less stressful for your young ones is to keep them involved in the relocation process, especially when it comes to packing their own room.
Without a doubt, packing your kids’ room together with your children is the best way to approach that particular task because you’ll not only get extra pairs of helping hands, but your kids will feel that they are doing something useful and are contributing to the success of the house moving process.
As you’ll see below, unless your children are too young to help you out, they can be a huge help in sorting out and paring down their own things, preparing their own essentials boxes, packing up their own things (within their skill sets, of course), and labeling and decorating the packed boxes – usually the most fun part of it all.
Step 3. Declutter the kids’ room together with your children
Keep your children involved in the packing process, especially when it comes to packing their own room.
You should always declutter a room before you pack up the things that are in it.
Remember that the less you pack and move, the cheaper the move will be because of the fewer items to pack (lower packing expenses) and fewer things to transport (lower transportation costs).
So, your next big step is to sort out and pare down your children’s things before you start packing them up. For maximum efficiency, do this together with your young ones.
First of all, urge your kids to create two separate piles:
Pile 1: Things they like and want to continue to have in the new place, and
Pile 2: Things they no longer like and will not play with anymore or use in the future.
Once you have those two piles, you can come in and take the job of decluttering the nursery room to a whole new level:
Clothes and shoes. Go through your children’s clothes and shoes and set aside any items that are either too worn out or already too small to be used again. Depending on their condition, donate, give away, or throw away any clothes and shoes you’re not taking with you.
Toys and games. Throw away any broken toys and games with too many missing or damaged parts to be played again. Give away to friends or neighbors, or donate to charity outgrown and rarely used toys and games as long as they are in decent condition.
Books. Books become very heavy when packed in boxes so it won’t make much sense to pack and move any books that your kids won’t ever enjoy again. Give away or donate the lightly used ones, and throw away the damaged ones for recycling.
Make sure you explain the idea of donation to your children and how the toys, games, and books they are not interested in anymore can give joy to other less fortunate children.
Step 4. Use clear plastic containers instead of cardboard boxes
Before packing a child’s room for moving, you’ll need to have a clear idea of how you will approach that particular packing challenge. It’s important to note that packing a child’s nursery is a different experience compared to packing the other rooms in the home.
One of the difficulties you may face when packing your kids’ room is that you’ll need to coordinate things with young children who do not usually think and act as reasonably and logically as most adults do.
A good example is when your children ask for their favorite stuffed animals or board games after you’ve already packed them safely in cardboard boxes.
You can always say a firm NO should that happen, but your refusal can only bring more tension to an already stressful move. The smarter thing to do here is to consider packing your kids’ stuff into clear plastic containers instead of into standard cardboard boxes.
That way, you wouldn’t have to open and dig into well-sealed and well-packed moving boxes to find whatever it is that your kids want.
So, avoid confrontations and get clear plastic boxes when packing your kids’ room – those containers come in various shapes, sizes, and models – most come with snap-on lids and some even have built-in wheels. That way, you’ll be able to find any kid’s item right away, without wasting precious time.
As a bonus, clear plastic containers will enable you to unpack more easily and much faster since you’ll know exactly what each box holds with a single glance.
It’s important to pack essentials boxes no matter which room you’re tackling at the moment – that’s basic packing advice that you should definitely take.
While packing your kids’ room, the creation of a few boxes with anything that your little ones may need while your other household items are on the road becomes even more critical for the success of the house move.
When moving with a baby or a toddler, your survival kit should definitely include diapers (pack more than you think you’ll need), powder or diaper rash cream, wet wipes, and baby food.
Also, remember to pack an extra set of clothes and your child’s most loved toys and games – anything that will keep them calm and entertained during the move.
When moving with a pre-schooler or a school-age kid, then the essentials boxes for your children should include their favorite toys and games, including high-tech gadgets such as smartphones, tablets, music players, portable game consoles, etc.
Pack up a change of clothes for each kid as well as you never know what’ll happen on the road.
Make sure the essentials boxes include any prescription medicines your children may need during the actual relocation trip.
Also, remember to take your kids’ survival kits with you in the car.
Step 6. Make packing fun for your little ones (or at least try)
The right way to pack a kid’s room is to keep your little ones fully involved in the packing process from start to finish. However, you shouldn’t forget the age of your helpers while planning out how the packing process will pan out. I
n most cases, asking too much from your children may have the opposite effect, thus slowing down the task of packing your children’s room.
Who knew that packing could be so much fun for your little ones!
The best way to pack a kid’s room is to turn packing into a game – something that your loved ones will really relate to. As a result, you’ll get the job done much more efficiently.
Since you are the one who knows best your own children, you yourself can think of some good ideas to make the packing task more pleasant, more enjoyable, and more appealing for your young helpers.
Here are a few ideas to make packing fun for your kids:
Music. In fact, any move-related task will be a bit more pleasant with nice music in the background. When packing for a move with your kids, music is a must.
Dancing. Why not? Most kids love to dance and will get more things done while they themselves are having fun.
Games. Children just love games more than anyone else. Think of various games such as races and competitions to entertain everyone involved in the packing process, including yourself. Under the circumstances, Who’ll Pack the Fastest is often a good game to bring fun and efficiency while packing your child’s room.
Rewards. Don’t forget to offer various types of rewards for the winners of all games, races, and competitions. (Hint: Your kids must win.)
Step 7. Label and decorate the boxes with your kids
As far as tips for packing up your child’s room go, you should leave no box unlabeled. That’s right – labeling your boxes when packing is important while labeling the boxes filled with your kids’ items is critical. You just need to know what’s inside each container to speed up the unpacking process once you move into the new home.
In general, labeling moving boxes is a tedious task but you can change that with a simple yet brilliant idea: let your children label and decorate their boxes. Make the whole process a fun activity by providing colored pencils and crayons for your little ones to draw what’s inside the box or the destination room, create characters, write their own names, and do anything else they want.
Encourage your children to get creative during the box labeling task and offer prizes for the most originally “labeled” box. Let them believe that that is an art project and consider keeping the best masterpieces after the move so that you can show your kids their creations years after the move has been completed.
Just make sure you also label those boxes properly to avoid confusion at the time of unpacking.
Here are some good tips for packing children’s toys when moving:
SORT all toys together with your kids: set aside the damaged ones for recycling and prepare the good yet unwanted ones for donation.
KEEP tiny toys and accessories in plastic Ziploc bags to keep them safe.
WRAP extra delicate toys and toy elements in bubble wrap to prevent breakage.
PLACE soft toys (stuffed animals) in plastic bags to keep them protected from moisture, dust, and insects.
WRAP individually each doll, action figure, figurine, and model in soft packing paper first, then place bubble wrap on top for maximum protection.
PACK large toys – board games, jigsaw puzzles, construction sets, etc. – in their original boxes, if possible. If not, find sturdy boxes of similar sizes.
WRAP fragile and/or sensitive toys – usually toys with many moving parts – in packing paper first, then in bubble wrap.
LINE all boxes with crushed paper to serve as extra cushioning before you transfer your kids’ toys in them.
Make sure you only pack and move the books that your kids love.
Here are some useful tips for packing children’s books when moving:
SORT OUT all the books that your children have to select only the ones that are worth moving to the new home. Do this together with your kids.
PACK books in small to medium-size boxes because books become super heavy when crammed into tight spaces. Make sure those boxes are strong, with no signs of pre-existing damage.
WRAP expensive and valuable children’s books in clean and soft wrapping paper first for extra protection.
PLACE heavier books in the boxes first.
ARRANGE properly your kids’ books in the box to avoid damage. The wrong way to do it is to position books with their spines facing upward due to the higher chance of damage to their bindings.
KEEP all book-packed boxes under 50 lbs. to avoid trouble on the day of the move.
Here are some useful tips for packing children’s clothes and shoes when moving:
GO THROUGH your children’s clothes and discard the pieces that are already too small (outgrown) and too worn out. In general, don’t bother packing any pieces of clothing that you know your kids won’t ever wear again. How to Pack Clothes for Moving
SORT OUT your kids’ shoes as well. Go through each pair to check whether it’s worth packing and moving, or not. Similar to clothes, children’s shoes tend to become too small too quickly. How to Pack Shoes for Moving
CONSIDER donating your children’s clothes and shoes that you won’t be taking with you. If some of them are really lightly used or have never been worn, you can try to sell them, especially if you’ve decided to organize a garage sale before moving out.
LINE all boxes with clean packing paper before transferring your kids’ clothes in them. Make sure those cardboard containers are perfectly dry too.
PREPARE the original shoe boxes to hold the pairs that you’re taking. If you don’t keep those containers, find cardboard boxes of similar sizes.
CLEAN the shoe pairs that you’re moving prior to packing them – remove the dirt, and dust and take out any tiny pebbles embedded in the soles. Make sure your kids’ shoes are completely dry before transferring them into boxes.
There are a few essential things to know when packing your kids’ room furniture:
DO the math beforehand. Most furniture pieces are big and heavy, and sometimes it’ll cost more to move furniture to a new home than to buy brand-new furniture after the move. Is it really worth moving the furniture from your kids’ room?
FIND and FOLLOW the corresponding instruction manuals to disassemble your child’s room furniture safely before moving it. If you’re not sure what to do, follow our step-by-step guide on how to disassemble furniture when moving.
PLACE all small fastening elements (bolts, nuts, washers, dowels, etc.) in resealable plastic bags (Ziplocs) to keep them safe.
GET qualified help (experienced furniture movers) in case you still find yourself struggling to disassemble, protect, or move the large furniture pieces in the nursery room. Do this to prevent even bigger problems for you on Moving day.
Thank you for telling me that I should let my young kids know early that we are moving and let them understand why we’re doing it. My husband was able to secure a good deal and purchase a new house that can accommodate our family, so we decided to move in earlier than expected. I’ll try telling my kids this evening that we’ll be moving in two weeks before looking for some experts in residential moving who can help us with our stuff.
As a professional mover, I find Joshua Green’s 7-step guide to packing a child’s room for moving, as presented on MyMovingReviews, to be thorough and practical. His approach addresses not only the physical aspects of packing but also the emotional needs of children during a move. Involving kids in the process, as Green suggests, not only eases their anxiety but also gives them a sense of control and participation in the move. His emphasis on decluttering and organizing, using clear plastic containers, and creating essentials boxes are particularly effective strategies. These steps not only streamline the moving process but also make unpacking in the new home more manageable. Lastly, his advice to make packing fun and engaging for children can transform a potentially stressful experience into a positive one. This comprehensive approach ensures that the move is smoother for both parents and children.
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Thank you for telling me that I should let my young kids know early that we are moving and let them understand why we’re doing it. My husband was able to secure a good deal and purchase a new house that can accommodate our family, so we decided to move in earlier than expected. I’ll try telling my kids this evening that we’ll be moving in two weeks before looking for some experts in residential moving who can help us with our stuff.
As a professional mover, I find Joshua Green’s 7-step guide to packing a child’s room for moving, as presented on MyMovingReviews, to be thorough and practical. His approach addresses not only the physical aspects of packing but also the emotional needs of children during a move. Involving kids in the process, as Green suggests, not only eases their anxiety but also gives them a sense of control and participation in the move. His emphasis on decluttering and organizing, using clear plastic containers, and creating essentials boxes are particularly effective strategies. These steps not only streamline the moving process but also make unpacking in the new home more manageable. Lastly, his advice to make packing fun and engaging for children can transform a potentially stressful experience into a positive one. This comprehensive approach ensures that the move is smoother for both parents and children.