Posts Tagged ‘child’

Whatever you collect, you know the thrill of the hunt and the pure joy of adding a new found item to your collection. How do you share this with young children or grandchildren? Obviously, digging in the dirt with your prized spoons, or playing catch with your fragile water globes is not the way to go. Why not start a collection of their very own?

While Fenton glass may fascinate you, odds are your child is going to be more interested in the very things he/she is playing with now – dinosaurs, dolls, action figures, tea sets, balls, marbles, etc. Does he make a beeline for every lizard, insect, and crawly thing he sees? Is it love at first sight for any dog she encounters? Since you’ve already recycled a zillion birthday and holiday presents, which ones does she still play with? What item has stood the test of time, perhaps advanced, but still the same thing?

Let’s face it, kids want to PLAY with their things, and no collectible can long be played with, buried, left outside, dropped, etc. and remain a ‘collectible.’ So buy two. Yikes, that could get expensive! Well, not two exactly alike, just similar. A porcelain doll that will be kept in a glass cabinet can be accompanied by a ‘hands on’ doll. A finely detailed museum dinosaur is put on a shelf, while the big rubber dinosaur is ready for action. If action figures is your child’s joy, buy two of newly released figures and keep one pristine in its packaging.

Fill out an index card for each piece. Where and when it was found/bought, history of the item and all the information you can find out by researching books or online. You might have memorized everything about your Jim Beam decanter collection, but you’re not going to remember the biography of the player who signed that baseball if you’re not a fan.

And take it out once in a while. Let your child have a ‘hands on’ experience with you.

It doesn’t have to be expensive. A department store ceramic horse for display with a toy horse for play won’t break the budget. Nature provides a huge opportunity to start a collection that doesn’t cost a cent. A walk along the beach is the beginning of a shell or sea glass collection. Digging a hole yields rocks to identify. Leaves, seeds, nuts can be found anywhere, flowers can be pressed.

Expand the experience with a book or movie, visit a museum, take a nature walk, go to an auto show – whatever ties in with your child’s collectible. This is one ‘bug’ you won’t mind spreading around.