Moving to a new house involves a lot of changes, which can be hard for a lot of kids to process and/or accept. Your child might be saying goodbye to friends, family, and/or teachers. Or maybe it's their friend who is moving away. Or maybe they're just moving to a new school.
Even the reasons why people move can be widely varied. Maybe parents are getting divorced (social stories to help with that here) or they simply want to move to a different neighborhood. Maybe they're moving across the country or moving because of a job.
There are so many possibilities that, honestly, it's best to write a custom social story about moving in these instances.
But sometimes you need a little inspiration to write your own story. That's where these free social stories about moving come in. They cover topics like starting at a new school, moving to a new home, and when a friend moves. Hopefully you'll find a good starting point below.
This collection of moving social stories was last updated on November 23, 2022. New stories were added, dead links were removed, and more details were provided to make sure you can find what you need quicker.
Free Social Stories About Moving
Have you been looking for a social story that talks about moving to a new house or school or maybe even a friend who's moving away? Then look no further than these free social stories about moving. Some require you to have a Teachers Pay Teachers account (which is free!) before you can download them.
I've rounded up some options for you to explore. That way you can find the best moving social story for your needs. Or you can simply use ideas from different stories below to write you own custom story (free social story templates here to help).
Please note that just because a social story is listed here does not mean I endorse its content. After all, many social stories tend to be poorly written and/or teach autistic masking. Besides, I haven't read all of these stories word for word myself. So please read through the stories carefully before using them with your child.
1. Preparing to Move to a New House Social Story from Kidmunicate - This story features simple text and full color photos. Apparently you can even email them and ask for a PowerPoint version to edit and customize if you'd prefer.
2. My Family is Moving to a New House Social Story from Social Stories: Power Tool for Autism - This story is primarily text only. There is one photo included, but that's it.
3. When My Friend Moves Away Social Story from Social Stories: Power Tool for Autism - Another text only story. This one obviously focuses on a friend moving away instead of the child themselves moving. There are two images included, one is of a book cover and one is of two friends hugging, so they're not super helpful for supporting the text.
4. When My Friend Moves Social Story from The Nomadic SLP on TPT - A simple story with clipart that talks about when a friend moves away.
5. My New School Social Story from Adaptable Ed on TPT - A short story about moving to a new town and starting a new school. This story uses clipart, but also includes spaces to write the name of the child's new school and teacher.
6. My New School Social Story from Preschool Speech - This story uses photos and is available in both PowerPoint and PDF formats. So you should be able to edit the PowerPoint version if needed.
7. When Someone Moves Away Social Story from The Functional Fox Den on TPT - This story focuses on how you might feel when a friend moves away. It uses colorful clipart with some diverse representation as well too.
8. My Family is Moving Social Story from Autism Little Learners - This story uses clipart and is available in both English and Turkish.
9. Transitioning to a New School Social Stories from Happy Learners - There are four stories here. They are all text only. Topics include "New School," "New School Year," "New Teacher," and "When I Move Class."
10. Moving to a New School Social Stories from Autism Little Learners - There are a few variations of this story here. All use colorful clipart. Options include some in English and some in Turkish. There's one about preschool to elementary, elementary to middle, primary to secondary, and starting a new school.
11. Social Story About Moving to a New House on StoryboardThat - Here's a super simple story. It's only four slides and uses clipart.
Free Video Social Stories About Moving to a New House
Here are some video social stories that talk about moving. They do mention specific towns, cities, and/or people's names so they're likely best for inspiration purposes only. You can use these in teletherapy sessions, social skills groups, and/or classroom settings. Videos are always a great alternative to printing off a story.
Like the stories above, some of the wording in these videos aren't always great. But I wanted to make sure you had lots of different options for talking about moving away to a new house or school.
There are many reasons why people. So you might have to use ideas from the various free social stories about moving above to write your own story. Actually, that's what I would recommend doing anyway.
