Children love collecting things and it can be an inexpensive hobby for any age. It can be a great way to build a lifelong fascination with all the interesting but ordinary things in the world around us. Collections of ordinary things, which cost little or nothing to put together are the best – an opportunity for each one of you in your family to express their own ideas, differences, and interests from an early age. Almost anything can become an interesting collection – bottles-tops, labels, buttons, stones, shells, feathers, pressed leaves, flowers…. the list is endless.
I asked my seven year old grandson to give me a list of things he is collecting or might like to start collecting. It didn’t take much persuasion for him to tell me.
‘Stones – I really like the flat ones and the ones with fossils. I’ve got blue, white and green ones. I like stickers, especially the ones with Superman and I like feathers.’
The father of a friend of mine always kept a locked drawer. He was particularly careful of the key. My friend, just a little girl, imagined he kept very important documents in the drawer. One day, unable to contain her curiosity she got the key and peeped into it. Not a paper in sight! To her surprise, there were several boxes of pens. Big, little, new, old, sparkling, bent. Absolutely fascinated, she carefully opened each pen and found that not one of those pens were actually usable. A strange collection to many of us but it was very precious to him, for each pen had a story to tell.
Bells and Tales
Kumari is thirty five. From the age of five, she has been partially paralysed as a result of polio. She’s very prone to infections and is hardly ever allowed out of the house. She keeps herself busy knitting and stitching for her many friends. All round her little room on shelves, the mantle piece and window ledges are bells. Literally hundreds of them. Big ones, tiny ones, bells with a loud clang and bells with a delicate jingle. Cow-bells, school bells, old ship beds. A fire engine bell; given to her by a chief fire officer when he heard of her collection. She has an incredible bell collection giving her lots of pleasure, a window into the world outside. She keeps her visitors enthralled with tales about where the bells come from and how she found them.
So starting a collection is more than a hobby. It adds a wonderful new dimension to remembering.
Now get started on some ideas…
Adapted from ‘Family Falooda’ – a unique and amazing resource for young families to invest into their children’s future- written by Rod & Ruthie Gilbert with Luke & Kirti Gilbert.
Leave a Comment