A Great Way to Boost Learning and Processing Skills

At the same time, collections can foster relationships. Collections can bridge the generation gap, bring siblings closer together and encourage new friendships. “While your child is negotiating a card trade or informing a classmate about his dinosaur collection, he’s inspired to interact with other children. A collection can be a great way to boost self-esteem, as well as serve as a smooth entry into friendships. Discussing a trading card collection can be a great icebreaker. Meeting kids who share a similar interest could mean he’s also found new buddies,” according to BabyCenter.com.

Creativity is another benefit of children’s collections. “My oldest three kids are constantly collecting random things wherever we are. The middle two call themselves ‘junkers’ and they animatedly imagine the role of each new find (e.g., this spring can be the neck of a robot, that part can create an airplane or rocket ship). It makes laundry day interesting for us with full pockets, but I love the creativity it engenders!” says Katrina.

Beginning a collection also can instill a passion in children, as well as introduce them to things they might not normally be interested in. For example, if your child’s grandparent shares a coin or stamp collection, or an older sibling has a baseball card collection, your child may decide to learn more about it. This might lead to a trip to the library for books on this newfound interest, which in turn can lead to a renewed love of reading. Bonus!

Collecting can teach children the fine art of patience and responsibility as well. True collecting is slow. Anyone can find a load of sticks or rocks to add to their collection in no time. However, if your child is collecting coins, stamps, sports cards, etc., he will need patience to find just the right item to complete his collection. Likewise, children learn these same items require special care and attention, as some are quite delicate and need preserving.

I love the quote from Pyschology Today that says, “Sometimes a collection is not just a collection, but a spur to the imagination, to learning and creating. And that’s what makes collecting in childhood a worthy pursuit.” We don’t hear much about collections these days, but maybe we should.

Julie Collett writes from Overland Park. She is constantly finding acorns, sticks, leaves, rings, coins, etc., around the house that her children are “collecting.”