Quirkier items on the wish-list included to paint the whole thing pink, move it to Cyprus or have a secret lock on the bedroom door.
Their dream bedrooms would include everything from lots of toys and a cinema size TV, to a chocolate fountain, a tent for sleepovers, a real racing car, a turtle aquarium or a full size Dr Who’s Tardis!
Redrow Homes carried out research among youngsters aged 6 to 15 years in a bid to understand what ‘home’ means to young people.
On a more serious note the research uncovered some of the things that impact most on children during a house move and has led to the creation of a special scrapbook that will be given to the young children of families buying a Redrow home. In it, there’s space for them to add photos, draw pictures, write notes and keep a record of their old friends’ contact details so they don’t lose touch after the move. It also encourages them to think about the reasons for moving and to appreciate all the positives of their new home.
The aim is to make young children feel like they have an active role to play in the moving process – rather than it being something that just happens and over which they have no control.
Redrow’s research revealed that having a new bedroom, a bigger bedroom or a bedroom of their own was the best thing about moving house for most children. Leaving behind friends and an old school or having to pack up all their belongings was the worst bit.
Some 53% of the youngsters questioned found moving ‘exciting’, but 11% of them described it as ‘scary’ and 20% said it made them ‘sad’; 45% were ‘very excited’ about making new friends, while the opportunity to discover a new neighbourhood made 29% ‘very excited’ and 50% ‘curious’.
Aimed at children aged 5 to 11, ‘Issy’s Moving House Scrapbook’ will be given free of charge to relevant customers at the point of reservation. It also offers parents advice on further reading to help their children adapt to a move, with a list of ‘bedtime books’ to choose from.
For more details of Redrow’s range of high quality family homes across England and Wales visit the website www.redrow.co.uk. You can also meet Issy here: http://youtu.be/l9spktHhCng
This is a guest post, sponsored by Redrow Homes
