We recently had a quiet day here in Williamsburg, Va., and so we headed out for our regular hunt of secondhand goods, pawn shops, and antiques malls looking for stuff. I spent around $35, but not any of it was for my own collection. Rather, it was a day to help Mary begin to collect.
As regular readers know, Mary is our 9-year-old and she is now starting her collecting odyssey. So how did she begin? Like her older sister, Jane, she has started to collect Wades. These are the small English ceramic figures that sell for a few dollars in almost every antiques mall. Wades are a wonderful place to begin because they are common and priced within a fairly narrow window ($1-$5). There are a tremendous variety of Wades to collect, and so Mary is working on her memory skills (critical to all collectors) of remembering what she owns and what she is missing. Finally, they don't take up a lot of room in her room, and we were able to add one that she did not have.
So Wades are her jumping off point. This year, she also discovered pop culture cartoons in a big way. In particular, she has developed a real love for Peanuts. This has opened up all sorts of doors, beginning with the paperback books that came out in the 1970s. Again, something she can hunt for and in the realm of $.50 to $5. She loves them, and it has inspired her to start expanding her interests. Today, she added a 1970s Peanuts candy dispenser. It was priced so reasonably that she can play with it and enjoy it without any worry if something happens.
Finally, the last stop was the ubiquitous bookseller that always seems to be in many antiques malls. They are a great place to go with kids, and for Mary it was the chance to get a kids’ version of the Agatha Christie story “Death on the Nile.” Again, something that interests her and for $2, it was a great deal.
Mary was able to come home with some cool and fun things that she can enjoy. More importantly, she is continuing to realize that going to an antiques mall or shop is a great place to find treasures, things that can be purchased with very little pocket money. Today, the deals were on me, but her Christmas money may be used next time.
Collecting with kids is a great and fun thing to do. It introduces children to our hobby and hopefully sows the seeds for the future. For many kids, a trip to an antiques mall is about "don't touch" and "keep away from there." In our family, it is about a treasure hunt.

Peter Seibert, a native Pennsylvanian, grew up in the antiques business and remains closely tied to auction houses, collectors, and dealers. Professionally, he has served as a museum director and public historian in Pennsylvania, New Mexico and Virginia. He holds an M.A. in American Studies from Penn State and has authored two books and numerous articles on decorative arts, interior design, and history.