I’m looking for good ways to get my kids interested in collecting. They are both still young so I’m not too sure that they are really old enough to get interested in it anyways.
I saw Topps was coming out with a MLB sticker book. I thought about going that route because they are stickers (all kids love stickers) and they would have to collect each players by teams which is like cards.
Nap of “Napkin Doon” had posted about sending letters out to the teams for fan packages. He had told me later that most teams you can fill out for them on their websites. I think if I did this, writing the letter might be more personal as far as sitting with the kids and writing them out together rather than clicking a few buttons.
Both these idea seem good, but both of them I’m not sure would work. Did you guys have a way to get your kids interested or have they resisted everything you have tried? Suggestions are welcomed, let me know.
I would really like them to start collecting, although I fear I may be getting them into a dying hobby. My daughter is 9, my son will be 7 in a month. They both play baseball/softball. My daughter is really coming into her own in the game and is really focused on it where as my son has just started and has only played 1 year of t-ball so I don’t know if it’s something that he’ll stick with or not. My daughter is a daddy’s girl and says she likes the White Sox where as my son is a momma’s boy and says he likes the Cubs. But neither will really sit with me and watch any games so I don’t even know for sure how interested they are baseball.
As I said before, let me know. Good idea? Bad idea? Too young? Don’t bother trying? Good or bad comments, let me know of give me some other ideas.
I don't think you can force it on them. When I get some packs I have my kids with them when I open them. My son often gets a handful of extras. A couple years ago I got a cheap box of 1995 Topps DIII as gimmick cards are fun. That said, he's way more interested in entertainment cards like Star Wars and Super Mario than baseball. We've also done a few different Panini sticker books. Boxes can usually be found pretty cheaply on eBay plus you can mail away to get the few remaining stickers on the recent sets.
ReplyDeleteFor my kids, it's more about time with dad right now than the cards, though. As they get older, they might get into cards, they might not. Actually, my son might. My daughter doesn't care too much already and she's six.
A "how-to" for getting kids interested in cards is like a "how-to" for teaching students. There are basic principles, but nothing works on every child. I would think the keys would be to find something for them to collect that interests them - the stickers, cards of their favorite team and players, even something like Pokemon or other non-baseball cards as a start. Start with something cheap like flagship Topps or Opening Day, and while you can teach them to take care of the cards, let them be kids and play with them how they want. You could then build a second collection with a few nice things for when they get older and learn how to care for them. The biggest thing is finding ways to make it fun for them, without it appearing to be a chore. Remember how you got into collecting, and draw from that experience. I started by gluing my cards onto poster board, then I just started sorting cards as I saw fit, and eventually it developed into a full-blown collection. So if your kids want to glue their cards to poster board or put them in their spokes or fling them at the wall, let them. You never know where it can lead.
ReplyDeleteI never wanted to watch games on TV as a kid. Too boring. But going to games was fun, so that's a good place to continue building interest in the sport. Take them to a couple shows and let them find a few things in the dime boxes that they like, etc. It's never too young to plant the seed, but remember that they're kids and they have different concepts of value. And they're a different generation and may have other interests that take precedence. I guess that's my advice.
I think kids will either get interested in sports or not as they grow up. I feel like kids either like sports or they don't and that doesn't change. Feel free to introduce cards to them, but they'll figure out whether they like to collect or not eventually.
ReplyDeleteWow..nice pictures and nicely written too. can you please share some more pictures like these..here in your future posts..??..
ReplyDeletei like the way you have explained every single point in this post..thanks for sharing and keep posting such post here in future too.
Experiences for kids