This was a burning question for us: “Is there a good age (or a good age to avoid) to move our kids to Spain?” After having made the move ourselves, we know one thing for sure: before the age of 11 is best, if possible. While our children did tons of travel immersion experiences in their younger years, from a mission trip in Dominican Republic to exploring the streets of Edinburgh, Scotland at the young ages of 7 and 5, we personally chose to wait until they were a little older. What we like about moving children abroad at ages older than 8 is that they become more aware of the move and its magnitude and get involved in the decision.

Our boys were 11 and 8 when we decided to make the move from the U.S. to Spain. They were so excited and had a say in what we packed, which friends we got together with the U.S. before we moved, helped us look for apartments, etc. Although some people prefer to move children at a super young age, this perspective of waiting a bit worked perfectly for our family.

The big tip here is to try avoiding a move abroad after age 11. With our 11-year old, we watched him excel at learning the Spanish language and realized there is a true sweet spot for moving abroad around age 10/11. Even our then 8-year old seemed to struggle more with slowly learning Spanish, while our 11-year old excelled. Other than the advantage that it gives them to learn a language, when he turned 11 our oldest began to have an opinion about where we lived and with which friends we stayed around. And even now, he is fighting us tooth-and-nail to stay at his school in Madrid vs. our desire to eventually move to Southern Spain. Consider the emotion’s of your pre-teen before considering a move if they are older than 11 years of age.

If you are required to make a move due to a job or the military, I wouldn’t worry too much about your children’s ages for the big move. Children are resilient and adapt well to new cultures – sometimes it’s harder for the adults in the long run!