My 8 year old daughter has recently started to collect erasers.  She likes the erasers that are little puzzles.  They are typically about 5 pieces and range from cupcakes to cute little animals to sumo wrestlers.  🙂

I think this is the next wave of collectibles that will be around for at least the next year.  You can see a sampling of her collection in the photo to the left.

With the exception of the bright yellow sumo wrestler standing in front, they are all miniature puzzles.

This latest obsession with collecting erasers brought back memories of all of the collections I have had over the years.

Collecting is a form of entertainment that can be prove to be valuable over time, from an educational and financial stance.

Smelly Stickers

Smelly stickers were all the rage when I was about 8 years old.  I had grape, strawberry, chocolate, mint, banana scents to name a few.  I remember the manufacturers kept coming out with new flavors, and my friends and I furiously tried to keep up.  We would put our stickers in sticker books and compare notes at the playground during school recess.

Shoelaces

Shoelaces were another one of my collections.  There were laces with animals,

words, ice cream cones, sunshines, cupcakes, swimmers, soccer balls, striped, polka dotted, and the list goes on.  I came across containers of these shoelaces last year in boxes that my parents had saved for me of my “sentimental childhood items”.  It really was quite amazing to see the extent I went to with this collection.

I wish I had taken a picture of all of the laces to share on this blog, but, alas, I donated the laces along with loads of other childhood items that I had not seen in 25 years.

I guess this would be an example of one reason to keep items from 25 years ago that have never been used.  It would probably be a good idea if I just take pictures from now on before donating.

When my parents hand me boxes from my childhood, I’m usually in such a state of de-cluttering, that I don’t stop to consider any other options besides donating.  Clutter makes me angry.

Stamps

Now, this collection, I would actually like to stumble upon in a garage clean out.  I collected stamps for a handful of years around the 7-11 year old period.  I had some old stamps at that point, so, now they must be ancient.  This is a collection I can get behind.  The stamps could gain in value, they are very small items, therefore taking up very little space, and they were educational with different world events depicted on them as well as different country’s characteristics and customs.

Stuffed Animals

I used to get up every morning and pick up my 25 stuffed animals and place them back on my bed in a neat row after I had made my bed.  There were many more than 25 stuffed animals in my bedroom.  I just loved those furry creatures and collected them everywhere I went.  I especially enjoyed the disney character stuffed animals that I would purchased with my savings on our yearly trip to Disneyland growing up.

Visors

I spent my elementary school years in Arizona and I was a swimmer, so spent many hours in the sun at swim meets.  Wherever I went, for several years, I would be wearing a visor.  I collected at least 30 different visors over the years from different trips we took or at a swim meet or hat store.  Visors were really comfortable for me and there were so many cute ones for an elementary school aged kid.

I had these exact same visors as shown in this picture.  Pretty cool, eh?

Conclusion

As of right now, I predict my four year old son will continue to collect Thomas the Train engines and tracks, my 8 year old daughter will continue her stuffed animal collection and maybe erasers, and my 10 year old is not really showing a clear collection hobby at this point.

I think collections are fun and a good exercise in patience and diligence for little ones.

Collections teach kids to stick with one goal so that they can eventually enjoy the fruits of their labor (a larger and varied collection).  They teach them to be creative in obtaining new items for their treasured collection.  Kids learn to save money in order to obtain new items for their collection.  They could also learn how to trade with others in order to obtain a piece that they would like more than one they already have in their collection.

Interesting to consider the important life lessons that our kids could pick up just by starting a simple collection.

Did you have a collection when you were younger?  Do your kids collect anything?  If so, please share below!