Children collectors: encourage them and accompany them in this learning

In 1996, the marketing from Creighton University Stacey Menzel Baker and colleague James W. Gentry from the University of Nebraska presented the paper Children as Collectors: A Phenomenological Study of First and Fifth Grade Students, published in Advances in Consumer Research.

That document presented the results of interviews with 79 children, 72 of whom had a collection (or several) of various types. Baker and Gentry noted that the child’s collection is dependent on cost, gender norms, and fashions, starting with movies and television.

Why do children accumulate certain things?

Marketers suggest that motivation comes from the following. Parents would do well to pay attention to what might be driving their little collector.

1. The child enjoys the process of collecting because It allows you to escape boredom and sometimes reality.
2. In passing, they learn or satisfy their curiosity on the subject of your collection.
3. They also satisfy their passion for the objects they want, there is something here that belongs to them and is under their control. control.
4. They want differentiate of others.
5. At the same time, they wish associate with others, especially with family and friends, based on these interests.

If a child collects, he is seldom a connoisseur. You tend to focus, at least initially, on how many objects you can accumulate, and you don’t care too much about quality or aesthetic considerations unless you have developed a strong interest in being influenced by your surroundings.

People like to talk about their collections, and children are no exception. Although they cannot explain or see the world of collecting in its full dimension, they have as much fun as an adult in the process. Take this opportunity to talk about what captivates your children’s thoughts.

The journal of psychology Mind is wonderful proposes that collecting also helps children get closer to reading, since certain collections make it necessary to read about the characters, objects and characteristics.

There is also the promotion of mathematical abilities, because to collect you have to keep score. How many do you have? How many are you missing? How many common cards do I need to exchange them for a special one that I don’t have? How much time should I save to have the new article in the series?

Also, with the help of parents, children can learn that if they want to preserve their collection, they must organize and take care of it, otherwise their possessions will annoy the family, they will be destroyed by a pet or they will end up lost or in the garbage pile.

The visual discrimination it is also involved, especially when it is necessary to differentiate very similar elements, such as two figures of the same character, but in slightly different versions.

Memory and attention they will exercise when the child does not have the collection on hand and needs to remember what he has and what he still lacks.

And collecting may seem lonely, but it doesn’t have to be, there will always be opportunities to talk with the child about what they are passionate about. Then there is exchange opportunities with other fans.

Children will also see the need for learn to waitWhen you have to save the expected item, wait until the next birthday or Christmas when you can receive a gift, or when the item is simply not available yet or does not arrive.

The benefits of collecting are several. If the child wants to start his collection, encourage him, but also watch the process, do not leave once your child is hooked. As the child grows, chances are that his hobby, knowledge and skills will too.

Towards a more adult collecting

As he gets older, your child will acquire a sense of the value of things, you will discover cases of people who kept toys or cards that have gained value over the years … And they will wonder if they will have the same luck with their belongings.

Baken and Gentry also observed that the child shows, in miniature, the psychological pressures he sees in the adults around him, who in their own way also collect (ornaments, clothes, documents, profiles on social networks, sports equipment). And so they suggest that parents pay more attention to the reasons that lead them to find emotional relief in whatever they are accumulating.

In the book Children’s culture and multinationals, educator and activist Shirley R. Steinberg and educator Joe L. Kincheloe call for attention to the fact that Currently, marketing allows children (and adults) to instantly collect a complete series, without searching, without the need to categorize the content, moving away from the concept of “caring for, collecting and sharing” what has been collected from one generation to another. “Our postmodern shift to hyperreality has made collecting instantaneous, no time elapsing in accumulation.”

In addition, the Institute of Advanced Psychotherapies of Madrid indicates Five signs that collector’s behavior has gone off track and he has gone to hoarding: the ‘collection’ is always messy, he does not like someone approaching or trying to help him organize or clean up, he denies that there is disorder, he grieves thinking that he may lose something, there is desperation to buy or acquire, Purchases are not used to play games or to display in some semblance of order, but remain stacked and packaged.

Caroline Miller of The Child Mind Institute adds that while it’s normal for kids to collect things or have a messy room, most won’t be upset if Mom cleans up or orders them to give away repeated items or throw away boxes, packaging, and old things.

“If your child is extremely attached to objects that appear to be worthless and gets very upset even at the thought of throwing them away, it may be a sign of hoarding.“Says Miller. “Children who compulsively hoard become very emotionally attached to the things they keep, things that others often throw away.” (F)