Moving Toddlers and Young Children to NZ

If you have young children and are moving to a new country you know the lengths you will go to to make sure they are happy and settled. So I thought it might be helpful to write about some of the things I have done to help my two girls settle in as quickly as possible and make them feel at home and part of the community. These things have also stopped me from going round the bend (if you have young children at home full time you will know how easy it can be for them to drive you completely nutty).

We have been living in our house for almost 6 weeks now without any of our furniture or toys so it has been rather tricky entertaining the girls (they are aged 4 and 2). We have managed to borrow a TV which has helped but we have no chairs or seats, so watching it is somewhat uncomfortable. This means that I have tried to get them out of the house as much as possible.

In Wellington there are an enormous number of play areas and parks which is great when the weathers good. They are all really well maintained and extremely popular. They have some unusual climbing frames and swings and are very imaginatively set out to look like pirate ships or cars. My girls love them. Its also a great way to meet other Mums and Dads. I have nearly always found someone to chat to and they can let you know about other places and activities available to entertain your kids.

One of the best things I have found so far and has been a real godsend, is the local Toy Library. You pay a small joining fee and then pay about $2 to rent any toy you want for two weeks at a time. They have all kinds of toys from car and Lego sets to ride on cars and bikes. Ours is extremely well used and every time we go the car park is packed with parents unloading trampolines and kitchen sets from the back of their cars.

I would also suggest one of the first things you do when moving to a new area is check out the local library. Ours is brilliant for kids almost half of it is taken up with children's books and they have a local notice board packed with all the activities available for toddlers in the local area. The library also runs its own "Story Time" for toddlers where they read books and sing songs for half an hour each week. DD1 loves this but DD2 kept saying "Its boring Mummy, Its boring" in a very loud voice so I think I will have to give our local one a miss for a bit.

From the age of 3 children can go to Kindergarten in New Zealand and they are entitled to 20 hours free childcare which can be used in any child care provider of your choice. I recommend that you check out your local Kindergarten as most are attached to primary schools and its a great way to introduce children to the school routine and they will meet other children there own age.

Our local Kindergarten was oversubscribed and when I first approached them they couldn't take DD1 straight away and we were told we would have to wait a few months. They suggested that we come and have a look around anyway and that I could bring DD1 down anytime I liked as long as I stayed with her. This is very different to the way pre-schools work in the UK. The ones I have been to back in England were reluctant to let me come down without an appointment and wouldn't have welcomed parents just popping in whenever they liked. Here however parents can pop in for a coffee and a chat whenever they feel like it. Its far more open.

DD1 has now started Kindergarten as they made her a priority and let her in early. The children there appear to run wild but they actually do have many structured activities available to them and the emphasis is on learning through play. When I lasted popped in there where several boys wondering around purring and dressed up as cats, they were all clearly very happy and enjoying themselves. Its a huge contrast to the way things were done in Belgium where children are expected to sit in a classroom environment from the age of 2 and a half. The facilities are great with a large outdoor area with a massive covered sandpit, climbing frame, swings and ride on cars. I think its a great start to school life.

Children in New Zealand actually start school on the day of there 5th birthday. Its made a very big deal, with a "Happy Fifth Day" celebration at Kindergarten before they leave for school. Consequently children in NZ are always looking forward to starting school.

Kiwis are into sport in a big way. There are masses of clubs and sport facilities to take advantage of. I found the best way to find out about a lot of the clubs was to pop into the local sports centre and swimming pool. I have begun to take the girls to "Kindy Gym" which is run weekly for pre-schoolers. They spend an hour dancing and jumping on and off trampolines, walking along bars and generally running around at great speed. Its really good as they are then exhausted for the rest of the day. Other clubs available include pre-school football/rugby, swimming, cricket, sailing and tennis. I am sure there are many more I haven't spotted yet. DD1 has just started dance lessons which she loves, mainly because she gets to dress up like "Angelina Ballerina".

Plunket is a good organisation to get into touch with as they can give you information on a lot of the facilities and groups for young children in your area. This is there website -http://www.plunket.org.nz/

Another good organisation in the Wellington area is Playcentres. They appear to be like a large playgroup organisation that also provides some childcare. I haven't been to the one in our area yet but as soon as I do I will report back. This is their website. -http://www.playcentre.org.nz/.

We moved to New Zealand because we believed it would be a better place to raise our girls and so far we have not been disappointed. One of the things I love is the number of kids you see out on their bikes and skateboards and playing in the parks. It reminds me of the idyllic settings you used to read about in books by Enid Blyton when you were little. Children have been out over the Easter holidays playing in our local park and wooded area, climbing in trees and building camps. This is the kind of childhood I want for my girls.

The very very long journey continued..... How to survive on a plane with toddlers.

The first leg of our journey was from Heathrow to Los Angeles which would take 11 hours. Our flight left Heathrow at 3.35pm London time so we were going to fly through the night. Our hope was that the girls would fall asleep - this was not to be.

To be honest this part of the flight was not that bad as the whole thing was a novelty and the girls loved the TV screens and as we boarded they were handed an activity set, colouring book, stickers and pens (this kept them amused for about 10 minutes). The food delivered a few hours after we took off was great and the kids were very impressed with all the little packets and individual trays. All they ate mind you was the cakes and roll and butter but this kept them happy enough.

Trips to the loo were also greeted with great excitement by the girls as this involved walking past everyone else (who tended to say hello to them or were busy snoring) and the great big swishing noise as the loo flushed was apparently very amusing.



People in general were very patient with the children and luckily we didn't have any major tantrums or yelling. However dd2 was not very good at remaining quiet when everyone was trying to sleep and the only way we could get her to stay still was to plug her into the TV.

There were plenty of other people with children on the flight - some with very young babies and the airline had obviously grouped us together near the bulk head of the plane. The families developed a kind of camaraderie between us and we found ourselves chatting to one another and helping each other out with awkward kids. It was nice and made you feel less worried if your child decided to have a tantrum or scream continually for 45 minutes at a time. Or as this video illustrates your daughter decides to perform a duet with Fimble when everyone is trying to sleep.



We took pyjamas for the girls and got them changed and washed in the loo on the plane about 5 hours into the flight. This helped them get to sleep as they felt fresher and more comfortable. The chairs are not an ideal place for anyone to sleep but the blanket and cushion helped. I think sheer exhaustion got the youngest to sleep in the end.


I have never been to America so I was rather excited about stopping off in Los Angeles even if it was only for a couple of hours. In the end the only bit you actually see is the security area where they stamp your passports and ask you why you are passing through the US and a room where you sit and drink coffee until your plane is ready for re boarding.

This was a very difficult part of the journey as the girls had to be woken up and then you have to carry all your hand luggage through US customs and security. We had a lot of on board luggage and two very tired girls - it was not pleasant. I think the airport staff took pity on us when DD1 had a melt down whilst waiting in the queue to go through customs. We were immediately taken to the front. I guess having a tantruming 4 year old can come in useful occasionally.

It was quite amusing watching all the other passengers stretch and contort themselves before the next leg of journey. One man lay down on his back and stuck his legs up in the air against a wall whilst reading the Financial Times and one lady did some yoga in front of the coffee machine. To be honest all these exercises are probably a very good idea considering the length of the flight.

The second half of the plane ride was somewhat trying. However the kind airline staff had moved us directly in front of the bulk head which meant we had far more leg room and enough space for the girls to play on the floor in front of the seats. We managed to get through most of the toys, books and games we had brought with us in this stretch of the journey. Someone had told me that you needed enough toys to get out a new one every hour and this is true. Its amazing what short attention spans toddlers have.

We slept for quite a large proportion of the second flight and DD2 spent most of this curled up in my lap. This meant that I woke up at one point and found a strange extremely tall man asleep next to me in DD2s seat. My husband said he had asked if he could sit there for a bit as he was a bit cramped in his normal seat and he had then promptly fallen asleep. We left him there until he woke up a few hours later, he apologised profusely and then when back to his own seat.

Our first glimpse of New Zealand was as a line of clouds in the distance and then you could gradually see land underneath. I will never forget landing in Auckland and the tropical smell that hits you as you get off the plane. I thought that they might pump perfume into the airport but it appears to be the natural smell in the air. Its a mix of Herbal Essences shampoo and the sea. The other thing that struck me was the fact that the airport is carpeted. OK this may be an odd thing to notice but I am so used to the vast expanse of tiled Heathrow that arriving in Auckland is like coming into someones carpeted front room or office. Its very homey.

By the time we got to Auckland we were all exhausted so I am afraid that the first thing we had to eat in our new home country was a MacDonalds.