Low Cost Hobby Translates into High Values During A Crazy Econony

We received many emails from families who have tightened their belts due to the downturned economy. A large percentage lost hours or weeks or even 1 of their 2 incomes due to this nagging recession. I make no judgements on why more parents are interested in stamp collecting for their children this year versus last year. What I say is don't wait!

Stamp collecting is not only an incredibly educational hobby it is also a low-cost one that firmly allows kids to work at their own pace and by themselves when needed but also makes room to have parents and adults enjoy in the fun. With our stamp kit, a child receives a packet of stamps and some hinges. Their parents receive a number of stamp attachments that provide stamp information, foreign identification and links to print out free stamps. Everything they need to start is entirely for free.

If a parent wants to venture out further, then they can buy a $1 3-ring loose leaf binder and order for $5 a packet of Vario pages (these are pre-made cellophane pages with 7 or 8 levels to hold stamps for protection and viewing.) These are very easy to get at auction sites such as Ebay.

We have been hearing stories from parents who cannot afford to buy video games or electronic toys. They want stamp collecting and board games and family games that bring people closer together. We at KNS have been preaching this for years. Do not allow modern conveniences to divide your time from your family. And definitely don't allow a bad economy to turn you into a smarter parent. Be smart in any economy. You can't get those years back and you are bound to be sell those silly toys at a future garage sale.

Some of your and your child's fondest memories one day will be the days of stamp collecting. The education, the bonding and ultimately the love of family.

Giving Big Thanks To Family and Health

Despite the gloom of the economy, there is always something to be cheerful about when you focus on your good health and loving family.

Thank you all for your continued interest in stamping and your wonderful emails.

November is the month when we celebrate our close bonds in founding this country and cementing our ties to our family and greater community.

Keep those comments coming.

God Bless.

KNS

What Age Should I Introduce My Child To Stamp Collecting?

What age should I introduce my child to stamp collecting?

I have been hearing that often lately. The common consensus is at kindergarten class-attending age-which is 5 years old. But this isn't the ten commandments!. The majority of parents who ask and receive free stamp starter-kits from KNS tend to start their kids at an average of 7 years old.

I started my son much younger at 3.5 years old. He was first introduced to a nickel-plated pairs on tongs and we proceeded to dunk a handful of stamps on paper and separate them, pull them out of the water, dry them and then place them in drying books to flatten them out.

As he approachd 4 years old he was basically familiar with stamps in general and started to learn how to sort through them and ask questions of their different shapes, sizes, colours, people, animals, countries, etc.

I happen to think as a parent of two boys there are too many distractions (video games, sfx movies, cell phones) out in the world now than ever before. The earlier the better. They might not grow up to be stamp collectors for the rest of the lives but they will always treasure the time as father you put into making sure their education and entertainment is well-meaning and well-rounded.

Please keep those request coming. Free stamp starter-kits always available.

kidsneedstamps@yahoo.com

Perfecting Harmony Through a Better Hobby

In the past 60 days we have received some of the most joyful emails ever from parents completely engaged in assisting their children in learning from the expanding world of stamp collecting. Our family thanks each and every one of you who have taken the journey of parental involvement with their children through the scope of shared hobby.

Our free stamp-kit program continues to reach out to new families lacking the basic of how to collect stamps or simply how to go about it in an educational and/or econonical manner. In these tough times we are most glad to help such families get a firm start without a single dime out of pocket.

The stamp kit is as follows:

5 email attachments that details stamp knowledge, identification lists and blank stamp pages

1 packet of international and US stamps

1 packet of stamp hinges

There are also instructions on how to create a wonderful very lost cost stamp stock book or stamp album.

Please remember the following: stamps are most than mere pictures on tiny pieces of paper:

Stamps reveal history, culture, language, science, medicine

We've have families report back that mutual stamp collecting has brought parents closer to their children, improved their focus in school and even helped the handicapped gain emotional independence by becoming passionate in a hobby that connects the heart and the mind.

Before you lose a tooth, ice skating or a brain cell, video gaming, consider perfecting harmony through a better hobby. Staying involved, staying present in our children's lives can be a challenge if we allow all the modern distractions to tear us away from the one thing all children truly need: parental presence. You will never lose when present. Never.

Strengthening The Bonds of Family: A Collector's Tale

There are a myriad of obstacles out there to separate us from our loved ones. I speak from personal experience when I say I'm lucky if I get 3 hrs a weekday with my kids. And most of that time is meal preparation, bath and bedtime routine. It's not by choice and once I get a job with less commute time I can spend alot more time with my beautiful wife and children.

Thus the weekends become precious and sometimes overanalyzed and overscheduled. I try to fit the world in two days. I try to make up with what I believe has been lost and create my own obstacles. It's one of a thousand reasons why stamp collecting helps bring back basic focus to my life and lets me reconnect with the kids in a simply pleasant manner. No stress. No guilt. Just strenghtening the bond of family via a time-honored hobby.

Whenever we can find something positive and productive to allow our attention to be focused on something other than work or ourselves -----we naturally grow stronger as parents and want to build on those key moments to grow as our children grow. I have been collecting for nearly 40 years and now have a different appreciation for it as a father. It feels exciting again like it once did when I was a child. While I have never lost my love for collecting it has always been a private vocation seldom shared with the outside world. My children have greatly assisted by efforts to venture out and speak out this wonderful hobby without fear of geek-prejudice. For that I will always be grateful.

And now parents, I am helping you to do the same, albeit, in a small way.

Finding Independence in a Day of Dependence

Who wants to pick up a paper these days and discover we are celebrating independence while shockingly in massive debt. Does that sound like independence to you?

The modern phenomena I rail about mostly, video games and motion pictures, still haven't done anything to reduce their prices in such trying times. Neither has even found a way to produce a positive message for these scary times. It's the same olde brainless bombshells, laser beams and car crashes.

Here's how I found some independence from that steady diet of dumb vixens and violence:

1. Got some stamps from around the world

2. Spoke about their unique origins

3. Found videos and pictures of these places on the Internet

4. Played games with the kids about the stamps and pictures.

5. None of this cost a penny.


Parents, give it a shot. We have free stamp starter-kits. You have the computer.

How easy can it be.

Confronting a Busy World: Stamping and Solace

We live in a busy world rampant with blinking lights and busy bodies always rushing from one place to another and seldom enjoying anything. Imagine that. Always being in a rush and never really enjoying the scenes of a trip, the taste of food, the warmth of a wife, the hug of a loving child. Impatience is killing our society.

Stamping teaches you patience. In many ways stamping can create a zone of solace far away from the screaming machines, noisy neighbors and feuding pets, each competing for our attention like if it were going out of style.

We should teach our children to take a step back. See the trees. Smell the flowers. Gazes at the stars and dive into a pile of stamps from hundreds of distant lands ready to reveal some new fact or face. This is the very magic of stamp collecting that cannot be duplicated by silly video games and splashy loud motion pictures. Stamping demands active use of our brain. Whenever our brain is active our fists are open to new creative experience rather than techno-influenced violence.

I live in the 21st century and I'm not trying to escape it and run to "Little House on the Prairie." Thus I don't believe stamp collecting with cure drug use, alcohol abuse, underage sex and poor self-esteem. But I do think it can make a difference in some of those lives. A major study suggested nearly 80% of children using drugs, alcohol or sex had no exposure to books, the arts or even common board games. A good bet they never heard about stamps either.

May Flowers and Friends

KNS joyfully is pushing forward in May with a wonderful April behind us. We are able to supply a Boy Scout Troope with the stamps and supplies they needed to help earn their Stamp Merit Badge. Good luck to all!

Receiving an increased amount of emails in the month of May and I thank you for your dedication to helping your children stay interested in the educational and entertaining hobby of Stamp Collecting.

Please don't forget to check out the site and leave comments as you see fit. Many of the answers parents seek can be found right here on the Blog.

First-time stamp collecting parents please keep in mind:

1. kids need a place to put stamps

2. you can print out free stamp album pages until they settle on what they want to collect

3. you can go to an auction site and buy some inexpensive Vario pages and store the stamps for all to view until you decide if wanting to purchase a formal stamp album

4. you need a 3 ring binder for the vario pages, sometimes kids label the binder and make that their stamp album

If there are other questions not found on site, email me and I will be happy to answer them.

A Father's Devotion To Fun

Naturally, I am always happy to hear from fathers, especially single fathers, who struggle to be taken seriously in a world that stereotypes dads as deadbeats if they are not married and aloof if they are so.

I once had a job in a company where the head management looked down on managers whom were also fathers from taking sick leave to care for their children. The exact quote was, "if you're telling the truth, you should get your wife to do it, if you're lying just ask for the day off and stop the drama!" And little gem of incredible wisdom came from a female senior manager.

One of the most precious moments in stamp collecting is the joy of sharing your hobby with your son or daughter and hoping one day it will become their own educational passion.

We have been getting alot of father traffic about the stamp kits and are very pleased the father's are devoted to their children and devoted to a fair measure of fun through stamp collecting.

God Bless

Marching Forward Onto St. Patrick's Day

February was a great month of multiples contacts with clubs, establishing official "KNS" clubs, and linking up with boy and cub scouts to help supply their needs into the new year.

March is an exciting month full of St Patrick Day festivities but also a month of displaying stamps promoting health topics. We will endeavour to display as many as possible.

For now enjoy the stamps of Ireland (Eire) and learn something new about that magical emerald isle.

KNS Sponsors Official Stamp Clubs

The new year often brings about new ideas to help others with their stamp endeavours.

"Kids Need Stamps" has decided to sponsor official stamp clubs throughout the country. At the moment we are focusing on those clubs already in existence in a semi or formal manner. This seems to be the best method to help grow these get-togethers into something more organized and stocked with more stamps and other supplies. Teachers in these settings can concentrate more on creative lessons than worrying about stamps and supplies.

The conditions are pretty simple:

Need to have an official name and meeting place
Need to have at least 4 kids in attendance
Need to have a committed teacher/director
Need to be inclusive and not ban kids due to race or gender*

(I'm not the politically-correct type, but when parents ask for certain stamps and only want 1 gender in their class---well, finance your own values,--- hope you get my point)

I am still putting together the official stamp club supply list but obviously it will include stamps, hinges, envelopes, blocks, and a few other goodies I am working on.

We are also getting official stamp club stickers for all the kids.

Stay tuned for more news and details.

Black History: Celebrate Through Stamps

My first African-American stamp was Paul Lawrence Dunbar, a black inventor. There have been dozens of black American heroes printed ever since. We are even blessed with an African-American President, Barack H. Obama, who will also have his own US stamp one day.

Some collectors of African-America heritage use the dozens of Black American Hero stamps to teach their children the powerful roots of their heritage. This is another excellent example of stamp collecting instructing children on powerful life lessons.

Collecting Stamps: A Priceless Education

We are currently living in the days of tight budgets and dollars stretched to the max.

In comes stamp collecting as an inexpensive hobby and a priceless education.

Consider the following:

Astronomy
Geography
History
Politics
Culture
Language

These are but a few examples of exposure and world education a vibrant stamp collection provides a curious child.

Keep those requests coming and keep those comments flying.

Many thanks.

Kids Need Stamps Featured In Major Publication: Collectors News

It's a super method to introduce the New Year, ----Kids Need Stamps has been featured in Collectors New, a US and International Magazine of Collectibles in their January 2009 issue.

http://collectors-news.com/

We would like to thank everyone for the supportive email and kind compliments.

Stay tuned for another cool announcements.