I have a Great Nephew who seems to be interested in coins, so I have been trying to cultivate that interest. Each time he visits he brings a Whittman folder, and we look through some of the rolls I have on hand!! Of course, any roll of that denomination we don't look through immediately goes into his backpack to take home!!! LOL During the last visit I had an idea!!! I know that's a little frightening but here goes!!! I asked his mom if he ever has a "show and tell" in his class. She said he will have this year! I suggested that I could help him gather some basic information about wheat cents and he could do his show and tell about them. She said that would be a great idea, then I thought I have a bunch of wheaties just sitting in a box so I could give him enough for him to give one to each of his classmates. I'm telling this story to suggest we collectors put some extra effort into promoting our great hobby to the youth!! Hope it goes well for him and that it will spark another kid's interest in coins as a hobby!!! Thoughts???
Awesome @1stSgt22 , I love the idea. I got my 6 y/o grandson into coins this year. I'm going to embrace your idea and see if we can arrange the same thing in his first grade class come September. As for kindergarten, I got him interested in minerals and geology, and some fossils and amazing shark/megalodon teeth. The teeth were provided by our very own @lordmarcovan . His class and teacher loved all the different show and tell items he brought in all year. His contributions to the class were by far the most interesting. When my son went in for parent/teacher conference, the teacher said my grandson's show and tell items were by far the most interesting and educational of all the kids. His teacher actually looked forward each week to see what my grand would bring in. The teacher was totally fed up with all the stuffed animals the other kids brought in week after week. Good luck with your great nephew. I think you'll enjoy it as much as he will.
It's so nice to hear about the contributions each of you and your great nephew and grand son are making to their schools. FYI, the US Mint has extensive education programs for kids and educators. https://www.usmint.gov/learn
Love the Show and Tell idea! My two grandchildren love to help me go through coin rolls, I just give them each a "cheat sheet" and they are very conscientious with their searches, probably better than me. I get them each the annual mint set also. Whenever my grandson comes to the house he makes a beeline to the safe to look at his coins.
I am trying to get all of my great grandkids involved, there are 23 of them. And some of my grandkids are already involved. My concern is that there is not enough change moving in the marketplace to keep them interested. If their only access to coins is rolls from the bank and grandpa, it may be difficult.
I got my son interested in collecting coins a few years ago. He doesn't do it by himself...I have to help him. My son is 20 years old and has Cerebral Palsy. He loves the Civil War tokens and Peace Dollars. I may take your idea and do a presentation to his class this year. He goes to a special school where all of the students are disabled in one way or another. They will enjoy that. Thanks for the idea!
Take them to the coin shop and let them pick out some weird county coins that they thinks are cool. Or you buy a hand full and tell them you want to find out what they are. Op’s idea was a wonderful one. Wish I could do that