Moving to UAE with children: How to help your child feel at home

Picture for illustrative purposes only. ARCHIVE

Moving to the UAE is an exciting adventure, but for children it is also an emotional journey.

Understanding what they experience can make all the difference in helping them build a new sense of home.

The visas have been approved. The boxes are packed. The flights have been booked. Everything is ready for your family’s new adventure in the UAE.

Or so it seems.

Because while parents are busy arranging schools, organising paperwork and planning their new lives, children are often quietly saying goodbye to the old one.

They are leaving behind grandparents, best friends, favourite teachers, familiar playgrounds and routines that have shaped their everyday lives. Even children who are excited about moving abroad are also saying goodbye to a part of themselves.

After supporting international families for more than 12 years, and after experiencing several international moves with my own family, I have learned that children often experience relocation very differently from their parents.

The UAE is an extraordinary place to grow up. Few countries offer children such a unique blend of cultures, languages and traditions. In many international schools, classmates come from dozens of different countries. Children may hear Arabic, English, Hindi and French in the same playground. They discover new celebrations, experience Ramadan for the first time, hear the call to prayer throughout the day, and learn that there are many different ways to live, celebrate and connect with others.

One mother once smiled as she told me about her children’s observations after moving between different countries. When they first arrived in Dubai, they were fascinated by the traditional clothing they saw everywhere. Later, after moving to Brazil, they were equally surprised by how casually people dressed there. To them, neither was strange. It was simply another way of living.

Children have a wonderful ability to observe cultural differences without judging them. Long before they understand the history or traditions behind what they see, they simply accept that the world can look different from one place to another.

For many children, that openness becomes one of the greatest gifts of an international childhood.
But before they can embrace something new, they often need time to let go of what they have left behind.
I remember one of our own moves vividly.

Before we left, one of our children could hardly wait. We talked endlessly about the beaches, the sunshine and all the adventures waiting for us. We were convinced the transition would be easy.

For the first few weeks, it was. Everything felt exciting. Every day brought something new to discover.
Then, several months later, the tears came. Not because our child disliked our new home, but because they missed their best friend.

They missed ordinary moments that suddenly turned out not to be ordinary at all. That experience taught me something I have seen repeated in countless families ever since.

Children don’t always process a move when the plane lands. Sometimes they only begin once life starts to feel normal again.

One of the biggest misconceptions about moving abroad is that the most difficult moment is saying goodbye. In reality, that is often just the beginning.

Many children arrive in the UAE full of excitement. The first weeks feel like a holiday. There are swimming pools, sunshine, new classmates and endless things to discover.

Then life slowly becomes ordinary again. School starts. Parents become busy with work. Daily routines return. And that is often when emotions begin to surface.

Over the years, I have met children who suddenly became quieter after a few months. Others grew frustrated over seemingly small things. Some insisted they wanted to “go home”, even though they genuinely enjoyed their new life.

Parents sometimes worry that these emotions mean they made the wrong decision. In almost every case, they didn’t.

Homesickness is not a sign that the move has failed. It is a sign that the life left behind mattered.

Children don’t only have to adapt to something new. They also have to let go of something familiar. That process looks different for every child. There is no right or wrong way to adjust. There is only their way.

Helping your child find home again

Parents often ask me the same question: “What can we do to make the transition easier?”

There is no magic solution. Every child is different. But over the years, I have noticed that the children who adjust most successfully usually have one thing in common. They don’t feel pressured to “move on”. They feel heard.

Children don’t need parents who immediately solve every problem. They need parents who are willing to listen.

Hold on to small family traditions. When everything outside the front door is changing, familiar routines inside the home become surprisingly important.

At the same time, gently encourage children to build a new life by creating opportunities, whether that’s joining a sports club, exploring the neighbourhood together, or celebrating both Dutch traditions and local celebrations.

One family always celebrated Sinterklaas, but they also embraced Ramadan by learning about its traditions and joining friends for an iftar meal. Their children never felt they had to choose between cultures. Instead, they learned that both could become part of their identity.

You don’t have to make the transition perfect. You simply have to walk alongside your child while they find their way.

More than one place to call home

Looking back, I realise that our children didn’t just move from one country to another. They became part of more than one world.

Yes, there were moments of homesickness. There were difficult goodbyes.

But there were also first friendships in a new language, first invitations to birthday parties with children from countries they had barely heard of before, and first conversations that opened their eyes to different cultures. Those experiences quietly shaped them.

Today, I see young adults who feel comfortable in different cultures, switch naturally between languages, and are curious about people whose lives look different from their own. That didn’t happen despite the challenges of moving abroad. It happened because of them.

An international childhood isn’t always easy. But it can be incredibly rich.

One day, your child may no longer notice the call to prayer drifting through the morning air. They’ll know exactly where to find their favourite ice cream. They’ll have friends from five different continents. They’ll laugh at jokes in more than one language.

And one ordinary afternoon, without anyone really noticing, the place that once felt so unfamiliar will simply feel like home.

Perhaps that is why internationally raised children so often grow into adults who feel comfortable in diversity. They learned, from a very young age, that different doesn’t mean strange. It simply means different.

Because home isn’t always one place. Sometimes it becomes a collection of people, memories and experiences that children carry with them for the rest of their lives.

And perhaps that is the greatest gift an international childhood can offer. WVD/Expat Media

Wendy van Dalen is the founder of Dutch for Children, an online language school that has supported international families for more than 12 years. Having lived abroad with her own family in several countries, she combines professional expertise with personal experience and regularly writes about bilingualism, international childhood, relocation and family life abroad.