How to start a child on card collecting

[teetwoohsix]

Everyone has valid points,but from my own experiance,Brian and Leon nailed it.
My father was a huge baseball and football fan in the '70s,and made it a point to make me learn how to throw and catch a baseball/football,taught me how to hit a ball,and then threw me on a little league team(we were the Dodgers).
At first,it was hard to understand the game,since all I had done was "play catch" with dad.
Then,as I learned the game and felt the feeling of "competition",going through the losses and wins,I fell in love with it.
From there,I wanted to see ANY baseball game on TV that I could.
From there,I started to want to collect baseball cards.......................
That,in a nutshell,is how it happened for me.
I doubt that without "getting into the game",I would not have found collecting cards to be as enjoyable-only my opinion..........

[Neal]

Teach him the game first, and that is alot easier to do if he plays. My son turned 5 in September and fortunately he was able to play tee ball this past April and I had the privilege of coaching the team! That of course led to more baseball questions, watching more and more Phillies games together, and then ultimately asking me to take him to the card shop! He has always been around cards and such, but now he wanted his own.

The first time I took him, I made sure I left with a storage box, some soft sleeves and top loaders. He asked for Phillies only (mostly Howard and Jimmy Rollins at first) and as the trips became more frequent, he would ask for other players - it was impressive to watch him name the lineup, including some bench players. His collection has grown, and he is proud of it - he shows everyone his cards when they visit. So far, so good ...

I have my fingers crossed, and hope he continues.

[drc]

double post

[drc]

Periodically give him a bit of money to purchase any pack he wants at the store. Let him pick whatever he wants, even if its Miley Cyrus or Harry Potter cards, as this will make him more excited and attached to his cards cards and more excited about picking his next pack. If you can convince him (i.e. not pressure or coerce) to pick a baseball pack, that's fine.

[Cat]

I started collecting again when my son was about 2 which was the same time I started taking him outside and underhand tossing him balls albeit a 4-inch plastic ball and a plastic bat about 4+ inches in diameter. Now, at 18 years of age (I still throw BP to him - now with an L-Screen) he's a pretty good ball player but seems to have no interest in the collection. When a package arrives he asks if it's a baseball card and when I say "Yes" he just walks off satisfied that his curiousity is solved. He doesn't even stick around to see me open the package and see what the card looks like. We've had the conversation that the collection will be his when I die and he has stated that he "would never sell them," but some day when I am gone and he is broke and needs cash, I am sure they will be sold. I just don't foresee him as an adult having as much interest in a collection of baseball cards that I do. He just doesn't have that gene that Barry was describing.