Think about the first collections you were consumed by. If you were lucky, as I was, it was young in life. You had someone in your family or in your group of friends who showed you a collection and you became enthralled with the idea of having something to collect. That is how it happened with me. I can still remember every collection I was ever shown and I can tell you everything I ever collected and I remember with fondness the innocence of my desire to “collect”, not so much to own but to have an interesting group of one thing, a collection. It gave me a sense of pride and it formed a thirst to hunt down whatever it was I was collecting. What better way to teach a child about themselves and about the value of what they choose to collect. The most serious collection I had was collecting stamps. I would take my allowance to the old stamp store and buy a package carefully encased in a wax paper envelope and run home to see if I was lucky enough to find one my stamp book was missing. It gave me the sense of amassing, of working to earn something and I began to understand the value of money. How many young children do you know today have this in their lives? One of the benefits of being a Trollbeads retailer is being able to see children and see their minds working as they pick out their first beads.

     We once had a 3 year old who took shopping with Nana as a very serious endeavor. Cate would get up on our step stool and do her own choosing. No matter what Nana showed her she always had her own idea. Think about the memories both child and grandmother will always have. Cate never takes the bracelet off. She is shown in this photograph with her Trollbeads bracelet.

The idea of earning the beads comes later and girls and boys around the age of 7 to 8 do understand the concept of money and will work for allowances to purchase their own beads. These collectors have their own story books with the beads they want circled and starred. There are so many benefits of having young people collect something they are fascinated with. Beyond the value of the money, they learn what they can do without to add to their collection. They learn to take care of their collection,polish it, protect it and watch it grow. Trollbeads tell a story and who enjoys stories better than anyone?  Children! Are there young children in your life that could benefit from collecting Trollbeads?