How can your teen help you to move? Is your family ready to move from one home to another — and your teen wants to help out? Now that your child is old enough to tackle a few adult-like responsibilities, take a look at the ways they can contribute to the planning, packing, and moving processes.

Your Teen Can Help You to Downsize and Declutter

Do you need to bring everything from your old home to your new one? Chances are the answer to this question is no. Don’t bring items you no longer can, do, or would use. Instead, downsize by decluttering before your move-out date.

The decluttering process can take time. With everything else you need to do, this move-related activity can fall through the cracks or put unnecessary stress on your already-busy day. This is where your teen comes in. Your adolescent child can sort, make decisions, and package items you won’t take to your new home.

Give your teen a list of rooms or spaces to review. They can make a spreadsheet-style inventory or use a home inventory app to list and categorize everything in each room. After they’ve inventoried the spaces, your teen can mark items to keep (bring when you move), donate, sell, recycle, or throw away. Review the inventory with your child to make sure you agree with their decisions.

If you do have a significant number of items to sell, your teen can help you to prepare, advertise, and stage a yard sale. Again, this can take some of the stress away from you and give you more time to handle other aspects of the move.

Your Teen Can Help to You Gather Moving Materials

What do you need to pack for your move? Common moving materials include cardboard boxes, plastic bins, bubble wrap, packing paper, and tape. You can also repurpose kitchen towels, washcloths, old bed linens, and quilts into protective packing supplies.

Send your teen on a mission to collect packing materials for your move. They can search the house for old cardboard boxes (such as appliance or electronics boxes) and towels or linens to reuse. Along with items they may find at home, you can send your teen driver to a shipping supply, office, or other similar store to buy plastic bins, tape, bubble wrap, labels, or anything else you may need.

Your Teen Can Help You to Pack

Now that your teen has helped you to collect boxes, bins, and other supplies, take the next step and pack. Even though this is often the longest part of the moving process, you don’t have to pack alone. Your teen is here to help.

Before you hand over this task to your teen, help them to learn more about the proper way to pack. If this is your child’s first time packing, you may need to provide them with a lesson on wrapping, boxing, labeling, and other packing-related activities.

Make sure your teen knows which protective materials (such as bubble wrap or packing paper) they should use with each type of item. This means you may need to pack a few example boxes of breakables and non-breakables.

Your Teen Can Help You to Move Boxes and Other Containers

Even if you’ve already hired a moving company to transport everything from point A to point B, you still need to organize your packed containers. Your teen can help to lift and carry boxes, bins, or bags from one room to another or bring everything to one centralized location. This can make it easier for the movers to find and load everything from your home into their truck.

Do you need to hire a mover? Contact Island Movers Inc. for more information.