Five Educational Items to Used When Introducing Your Kids to Collecting

The world of collecting can be fun and educational for your child. Introducing your child to the world of collecting can be rather inexpensive and a great way for your child to learn about the world around them. Here are some ideas for things your children can collect.

1. Rocks can be fun to collect. There are many different types of rocks that can be found. You can find rocks in your backyard, at the beach, in the forest, and other areas of nature. You can also purchase special rocks that may be harder to find. Rent a book from the library on rocks or do some searching on the Internet to find out about the different rocks you and your child have found.

2. Bugs are creepy and crawly and often quite fascinating to children. This collection is an ever changing one as you don't want to keep a bug contained for longer than a few hours. Your child can use old baby food or pickle jars that have been washed out as containers for the bugs they catch. Do some research on the different bugs you find. An illustrated bug guide may be the perfect way to go about your research. Your child can find out the names of different bugs as well as information on what they eat, where they sleep, and what they are capable of. If your child is interested in bugs but doesn't want to touch them you can purchase a bug vacuum for about $20 at your local retail store. Take pictures of your child holding the bugs that they catch. Insert the pictures into a photo album that has room under or beside each photograph to add a description. You or your child can write brief facts about each bug to accompany the pictures.

3. During the autumn months fallen leaves are aplenty. Go out with your child to collect leaves of various shapes and colors. Take the leaves home and learn about the trees they came from. These leaves can be displayed through various crafts or you and your child can attach them to poster board with the names of the trees written underneath each leaf for an informative display.

4. Buttons can be fun to collect and are easy to come by. Buttons can be a great tool when it comes to learning math skills. Buttons can help teach a child how to count, how to add, subtract, multiply, or even divide. Because buttons can come in many sizes, shapes, and colors they make for an interesting instructional tool when it comes to learning math.

5. Calendars come in a variety of themes. Many calendars contain reprints of famous paintings from masters such as Monet. You can usually find a great deal on calendars after the New Year has begun. You can learn about the painting that coincides with the current month with your child by doing some research in art books or on the Internet. You can purchase several calendars so that your child can pick and choose which artist or painting they want to explore each week. You don't have to stick with just artists and paintings however. You can also purchase calendars with different breeds of dogs and cats, automobiles, military history, or other things that may be of interest to your child. When the year is finished they can use the photographs or artwork from the calendars as framed art to decorate their room with.

Help your child grow a love for collecting and a love for learning by using some of the above ideas. You may find yourself having fun and learning something new as well.