How Kids Can Benefit from Collecting Cards

 

I have a nephew who recently turned eight years old. Back when he was about five, I gave him a stack of junk wax–era trading cards, just to see if the action would generate any interest. He wasn't a big sports guy back then, but he did find a few "shiny" baseball and hockey cards that he liked, along with some superhero cards that he quickly snatched up. 

 

That constituted enough interest for me, so I took out the small binder and some nine-pocket pages that I'd previously set aside and placed them in front of my nephew, explaining how they'd help keep the cards safe and organized. Watching the little guy take to them with eagerness and begin to slide cards inside each pocket made me a happy uncle.

Couple that early interest with a resurgence in the popularity of Pokémon cards among he and his classmates that school year, and soon I'd be bringing more binders, pages, and top-loaders with me whenever I visited.

On each of those visits, I was really impressed with the level of care my nephew took with his cards, whether they featured Pokémon, dinosaurs, sports stars, or whatever else.

 

Regardless, it got me thinking: Collecting cards can be of great benefit to kids.

 
Here are some examples.


Sorting
Kids can learn to sort cards by number, team, player/character, alphabetically, or as my nephew sometimes does it, by shiny cards and non-shiny cards.

Organization
Provide them with a few supplies, and kids will quickly figure out that they can use separate binders and boxes for separate projects.

Memory
Most of you reading this can probably describe a few of your favorite cards right off the top of your head: the colors, the design, exactly what the player is doing in the image, maybe even the blurb or the cartoon on the back. And I'm sure some of those cards go all the way back to your childhood.

 

Reaching Goals
Creating a to-do list and crossing items off that list is a great thing to teach youngsters, whether the list involves cards or not.

Seeing a Project Through to Completion
This relates to the previous example. How many of you remember how you felt when you completed your first full set of trading cards? How determined did you need to be to find those last few cards?

Taking Care of One's Belongings
Some kids take better care of their cards than others. But storing cards in pages, top loaders, and card-friendly boxes instead of just all over the place can teach a child a lot, and help them enjoy their collection.

Fair Dealings
I don't think my nephew has made any trades with his classmates yet, but ensuring a trade is agreeable on both ends is important, and I'll try to make sure he doesn't learn that lesson the hard way.


Quite a list!

And when that kid collector reaches adulthood, I think you can see how all of these skills will apply to "real world" situations as well.

I know I'm preaching to the choir here. But if you've ever bought cards for your nieces and nephews, or grandkids, or any kid, and the parents respond by giving you the "oh great, now there will be cards all over my house and I'm going to have to buy even more of them" look, just rattle off some of the benefits listed above and maybe those parents will change their tune.

 

What other benefits can come from collecting cards? Share in the comment section, and thanks for reading!