Collections

Often children around the age of 5 years become interested in collecting things. Their collection is usually sparked by something that interests them such as dinosaurs, badges, shells etc. The toy industry capitalises on this by creating toys that can be collected...the latest Disney characters, Pokémon, Trolls, Lego figures...children enjoy collecting and they get a lot out of the experience. They learn to group items, count, categorize, sort and differentiate. Their ability to name toys, identify characteristics and talking about them often leaves us amazed. Collecting can also help children to establish a circle of like-minded friends increasing their self esteem.
As a parent you could try to encourage collections that are less expensive than the toy manufacturers are currently promoting...it would save you a lot of money!
Choose something that is easy to find and help your child to search the local junk and charity shops. Don't forget to tell people what you are collecting as they will probably help, especially Grandparents!
Here are some suggestions:
buttons, fossils, autographs, key rings, rubbers, badges, marbles, pencils, shells, a type of toy animal such as elephants, frogs or penguins, bottles, egg cups, salt and pepper pots.
Many adults are avid collectors and often they began in childhood, what did you collect as a child and is the collecting still going strong?

Here is a collection of badges that my Granddaughter spent ages collecting from Mammas drawers, toy boxes, charity shops and car boots. She particularly loved the birthday badges and we enjoyed collecting 1 to 10 and putting them into the right order. Collections help children to look really hard, to recognise differences and similarities, sort by size, colour and type. Children also love to display and talk about their collection.

Storage and display. It is fun to be able to show off your collection and you will want to keep it in order and in good condition so have a go at making a storage/display box for your collection. We  enjoyed decorating a box to keep our badge collection in, we used  google images for the pictures, a cardboard box and lid and decoupage paper glue.

When teaching I loved to present children with challenges and one that was really successful was to fill a small jar (or matchbox) with tiny things. I was amazed at the variety and number of things they found to fill their pot! The children also loved sharing and comparing their collection with their friends explaining where they found each item and which were their favourites.

Loris Malaguzzi, a famous educator and psychologist said "Children are full time researchers, untiring re-makers of action, ideas and theories"

 

Some questions to ask your child when and if they let you look at their collection:
What does it look and feel like?
What are they made of?
Are they natural or manmade?
Ask about the colour, size, weight, number.
How is it put together?
How is it used?
What are the differences?
Which is your favourite?
Which would you swop?
Have you got duplicates?
What are you looking for next?

More ideas for storage include old boxes that contained chocolates...especially the posh ones with drawers, glass/plastic jars as you can see your collection but be careful if it's glass! Ikea have a lovely selection of storage boxes in cardboard and wood that can be decorated. I have found some lovely cheap, yet interesting storage boxes in my local charity shop. Shoe boxes are good as they can stack when your child's collection starts to grow! This can make a great summer holiday activity, giving purpose and interest to those long days.

Please let me know if your child begins a collection this summer?