How to start a child on card collecting

[barrysloate]

I don't know if anyone has ever studied this but it seems like there is a collector gene that you have to be born with. I enjoyed collecting things as far back as I can remember. But my younger brother, who was of course born into the same circumstances, couldn't care less about it. And there are plenty of collectors who build collections with the idea of passing them down to their son, only to discover that the son has no interest in it at all. So there is no guarantee that a child will share the same passion as a collecting dad. It's an interesting topic...somebody should write a paper on it (not me).

[cwazzy]

I am actually in the same position. I have a three year old that went with me to sell my modern cards recently. After I had the money and was driving home he asked me if I would teach him to collect. So after thinking about it I decided to do a low grade '52 Topps Look N See set with him. I think the wonderful artwork and historical characters portrayed will not only keep his attention but hopefully be a learning experience as well. I'll put them all in top-loaders and the top-loaders into team bags so he can play with them whenever he wants. My hopes are that he will eventually decide to do baseball cards with his "old man".

[vintagechris]

I have a 17 year old son. I would buy a box of modern cards when he was 5 and we would just open them together and find players he knew and liked. Oddly enough he used to play video games back then and that helped him learn players names and such.

He later got interested in the history of sports as I was always talking about it. He then started buying older cards and still collects today although like most teens, spends more time on facebook and stuff like that.

I agree with what Barry said about the collecting gene. I have always had it since I can remember. Some people don't. I had a collector friend who recently passed away. He was 65 and his son has no interest in cards at all although he loves sports. My friend was always wondering what he would do with his cards when he passed since his son had no interest in them.