It's been nice seeing kids running around and doing their scavenger hunt here at the Summer FUN show. However, what I noticed is that these hunts were quite solitary. It's pretty intimidating for a kid to go up to a dealer by themselves. This got me thinking on how I would get kids excited about coins if I was running a show. Hear me out Give kids fake money that's worth $100. Split them up into teams. Each team is given 3 objectives. Objectives: A) Amass the largest collection volume wise [Slab holders, coin boxes, etc] Try to fill up a truck! B) Buy and fill out an entire coin album C) Amass the largest number of coins possible Each completed objective is worth 1 point. Dealers can accept the fake money and convert them later with the show hosts. The team with the most points gets to keep everything that all teams acquired. They then get a table to display their winnings. The kids on the losing team gets a $20 voucher and can buy what they want from the winning team. What I think the kids will get out of this: -Gets kids to work as a team and build their communication skills - Gets them to think strategically and learn how to communicate tradeoffs since one objective negates the others - The kids are incentivized to talk with all sorts of dealers and exposes them to the diverse world of Numismatics - Kids learn to negotiate with dealers as they have to to maximize their money [Great lesson for any collector] -Kids on the winning team get to act and think like a dealer. While the losing teams get to act as a buyer for stuff they want. What adults get out of it - Parents get a break to enjoy the shows -Dealers get paid and get to offload inventory -An interesting insight into how young collectors think and act Oh and a plot twist. Surprise the teams at the halfway mark, have all teams meet up and report their current progress to everyone. Now everyone knows what strategy everyone else is doing. Adults kick back with a margharita and enjoy the ensuing chaos. Bonus Idea: Record and document the event to encourage parents to come to future shows
Nice outside the box thinking @Dansco_Dude Even if members shoot holes in your idea you're still greenlighting and thinking about the big picture and the future buyers for our collections. I applaud your creativity.