10 Easy Ways to Make Thrifting Fun For Your Children

If you go thrifting to find inventory for your online business, once in awhile the kiddos have to go along. Sometimes these trips can take a considerable amount of time.

Here are some easy ideas to use to include your children in the fun.

1. Have a good attitude–make a stop at the thrift store fun. Make it an adventure.

2. Make sure you don’t go at nap time–crying children doesn’t make a pleasant experience for anyone! Even if your children are older and don’t nap, it’s a good idea to go before everyone is worn out.

3. Take small snacks that are not messy, sticky, oily, or staining– string cheese, nuts, cheerios, water, small crackers

Don’t take suckers, red juice, items that need ketchup or drip grease!

4. Teach children your code word–our is “Do you think Grandma would like this?” That’s much better than shouting, “Hey Mom, can you sell this on eBay?”

5. Tell your children what to look for–You can play learning games with little ones. “How many red things can you find?” “Do you see any triangles?” etc

For older children teach them specific items. My son knows to look for Scrabble games, certain books, Wiggles toys, etc.

6. Encourage older children to learn about things they would like to sell–my son checked out a book at the library about old McDonald’s toys. He found one at the thrift store and we sold it on eBay and he got the money. He’s excited about going to the thrift store now!

7. Spend time just talking with your children while you shop–casual conversations can be very meaningful. Be funny or silly together and make the trip a memory rather than a chore.

8. Teach your children manners–courteous helpful children are always a welcome sight to staff and customers.

9. Talk about retail prices when you leave–teach them why you shop at the thrift store. One time we found several pairs of jeans for my husband at the thrift store. James was grumbling about the trip while we were shopping. After we left, I showed him the pants and told him we would have had to pay $60 or more for those jeans if we bought them new and we paid less than $10 at the thrift store. He said, “Oh! So that’s why we go to the thrift store.” Giving him some information helped him change his mind about stopping at the thrift store. It also gives them a little bit of the “thrill of the hunt” bug that we all love.

10. Play a thrift store game–ours is the ugly game. We look for the ugliest item we can find. Many trips are hilarious because we make fun of all the ugly stuff we find. A common saying is, “I think I found our ugly for today.” One time when my son was about 6 he found something horribly ugly and he said, “It’s making my eyes bleed!” We still laugh about that.

One benefit of teaching your children to look for ugly is that you see unique items you may have missed. Some “ugly” things are worth picking up. He found several Oilily or Euro brands by looking for “ugly”.

The other benefit is just plain good times!

How do you involve your children in thrifting?

**This post submitted to Works for Me Wednesday. Find other tips here.