Helping Your Children Make Friends Abroad

 

Moving home is exciting but it can also be quite daunting if you arrive in a new location without any friends or family to act as a support.  For children, the experience can be even more overwhelming, especially if they are older and have left lots of strong friendships behind.

As a parent you’ll bare the brunt of the upheaval and will need to arm yourself with some skills in order to help everyone settle in. Remember not to be too hard on yourself. Moving abroad is a big step and everyone will find it difficult, even those that really wanted to relocate. The great news is that children are on the whole are very adaptable. Give it time and it’s most likely that you will all feel settled.

Here a few suggestions for making the friendship transition abroad.

For younger children:

The younger the child, the easier it will be to find ways to help them make new friends, fairly quickly. Smaller children are more open to new friendships, having not left too many strong bonds behind. There are a huge array of options here for new mate bids. Children below school age could find friends at playgroups, parks or the various number of activities that youngsters can take part in. 

Ways to start:

* Find the nearest playgroup via neighbours with children and arrange a date to meet them there. It will be easier to turn up and spot a familiar face rather than find a sea of strangers.

* Look into activities that your child liked at home. If they enjoyed swimming or singing back home chances are they’ll enjoy the experience in your new environment.

For pre-teens:

Finding mates when you’re at school, may be easier, or harder than imagined. It will all depend upon how sociable your children are. Again encourage them to find clubs to join that reflect their current tastes and interests. They may find these options at school or you’ll have to research particular outlets.

Ways to start:

* See if your child wants to invite some of their new classmates around for an impromptu movie and popcorn evening. This will be a good way for you to meet the parents too.

* Set up a regular activity on a Saturday morning so your kids can meet friends outside of school. This will help if the Monday-Friday routine isn’t going so well.

For teenagers:

There’s a good chance that if you have a child between the ages of 13 and 19, you’ll find them the toughest to convince that moving was a good idea. They’ll have a whole list of reasons why staying at home was a better idea. It’s also one the hardest times for them in terms of friendship, with hormones and peer pressure, shaking the best of them. Again, they’ll need to pursue old interests and hopefully find some new ones. You could also encourage them to keep in contact with their old friends via social media.

Ways to start:

* Encourage them to leave the house and discover some new opportunities available to them. They may not have surfed before but if you find yourself on one of Australia’s hottest beaches it won’t hurt to find out if they can. Alternatively many ski resorts offer clubs for kids during the key season.

* Look out for other expats with kids of a similar age and see if you can arrange a shopping/beach/ski/basketball trip. Finding someone in exactly the same boat can really help. 

 

If you are considering a move abroad PSS International removals can help. We are a family run company, which has specialised in international removals for over 34 years. We are committed to providing a friendly, professional and stress free overseas move for all our customers. Whether you’re sending a full or part household removal, excess baggage or a vehicle, we will ensure that you receive the highest level of care and attention.