From Junk to Souvenir to Treasure

Brass bugles hung from the stalls. Army medals, old-fashioned postcards and toys, World War I helmets and antique watches were laid out with a jumble of other junk and waiting-to-be-discovered treasures.

“I can’t decide what to get,” Matt confessed. Usually a reluctant shopper, he was enjoying himself immensely, darting from stall to stall comparing prices, questioning the gruff peddlers about their wares.

“Is that a real bullet,” Matt asked one peddler. “From the Falklands War,” the man responded. We walked on until Matt found just the “right” bullets.

Sure, souvenir shopping with kids can be grim. “Shopping with a preschooler is not fun,” acknowledged Chicago child psychologist Victoria Lavigne, whose specialty is young children.

“Let them pick something and then leave, go get an ice cream cone,” she said. If you don’t want to buy something, explain that today is a “looking day” and that you’ll buy something tomorrow.

Older kids are another matter.

The key is setting the ground rules before you leave home. Let the kids know how much they may spend. Some parents allow kids to bring allowance or birthday money they’ve saved and then supplement it with a set amount.

“I find when Christian is spending his own money, he’s more careful about his choices,” said Lynn Heistand, a Chicago attorney. In selecting an item, Christian is allowed “to follow his interests, within reason.” The results are interesting: Last summer, the 10-year-old returned from Africa with a warrior’s shield and sword. He hung them over his bed and took them to school when the class was studying Africa.

Kids love artifacts they can touch, said veteran third-grade teacher Lynn Sperling, herself the mother of three children. One big hit in her class was a bleached cow skull from the Southwest. Another was cotton, still on the plant, from the South.

“Look for things that are different from where you live,” she said. “You can read about the place you’re going ahead of time and talk about what you’re going to look for. It helps kids to focus.”

For example, if you’re going to visit historic places like Williamsburg, Va., search for old-fashioned toys. Or let the kids choose a replica of a famous site they’ve visited: the White House, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Statue of Liberty. Buy a children’s book set in the region you’re visiting.

Stephanie Shipow’s kids came home from Montreal with souvenirs from an Expos baseball game and from London with Beefeater teddy bears. When kids pick things about the places they’re visiting, said the suburban Los Angeles teacher, “it helps keep the trip alive for them.”

Souvenirs don’t have to be expensive to be meaningful. Bring back foreign money from another country and encourage the children to start a collection. Take an album or special box and then look for items they find interesting wherever you go: rocks, pins, patches, bumper stickers, pencils.

Richard Weinberg started collecting matchbox covers when he was in high school. “I’ve got them from all over the world,” said Weinberg, who is now director of the University of Minnesota’s Institute of Child Development.

Linda Foster’s family collects T-shirts. “It’s become a family tradition,” she said. Even better, the kids don’t expect to buy much else.

Taking the Kids appears weekly.