At what age?

[Bethis26fan]

At what age do you let your kids start pin trading? We are taking our nephew and we want it to be a special trip as he'll have a new sibling in July. So this is kind of the last really big thing we get to do for him. So we want to take advantage of everything. He'll be 4 and 1/2, but I just don't know about pin trading.
Should we just have a couple of pins if he wants to trade for buzz he can or should be buy him one of the starter sets? Any advice is welcome. Thanks.

[biodtl]

DD was just short of 3 when she did it. Admittedly, she didn't do much trading, but since she has an older brother, she just followed his lead. The CMs are pretty great in trading with the kids.

I'd recommend getting some locking backs for any pins you don't want to lose. They aren't as quick for trading, but the rubber backs kept falling off for us.

[RoosMomKanga]

Mine had just turned 6 and he had older siblings doing it also (pin trading was a new thing then). We had prebought pins for the older 2, but thought he'd be too young...wrong...we ended up scrambling for pins for him to trade.

[Suz36]

My DS was 4 1/2 during our last trip and really got into trading! As others have said, he did have an older sister to model. I think having one character to look for will help (my DS was looking for anything Pirates!) The CMs are really great with the kids - look for ones with green lanyards who specifically trade with kids. As far as pins, I bought a grab bag of various pins before our trip. That way there were plenty we didn't really mind trading away. PM me if you'd like the website I used. Have fun! It's really a great way to get the kids talking with the CMs.

[Aurora's Spindle]

I think pin trading should begin at whatever age a child shows an interest in doing so. You should buy a few pins on eBay before you go, since they're a lot cheaper than in the parks. And hey, if your nephew ends up not wanting to trade, you can always trade them for pins you like!

[dakotamom]

My 4.5 year old son traded pins and loved it. I would recommend getting a starter lot off of ebay - be careful they are true Disney pins - and putting 4-6 pins on a lanyard for each day. At night - he can choose which ones he really wants to keep and those he wants to trade for the next day. There will be some really neat pins that he will really like. REALLY.

Encourage him if he's shy - for us at MGM last year our boy traded w/park manager and was invited for special parade seating in a magical "dream" moment for him!

Have fun!

[baby minnie's mommy]

We haven't let DD trade yet (she's 3) but bought some pins for her to start a collection to trade when she's older.

Anyway, something cool about the starter kit we got her at DTD was that it has 2 of each pin, (4 total) plus the lanyard. That way she can trade one and keep one of both styles. That probably makes it easier for newbies who don't want to give up a pin they like!

[kakn7294]

It really depends on how much he understands the trading thing. Some kids are ready at 4 yo but some are still into that selfish stage and trading just doesn't go over well with them. The starter sets do have 2 of each pin - one to keep and one to trade. Last time I looked, there was a Toy Story one with Buzz. If you do decide to start him trading, stick with CM's. They're usually great with kids and sometimes will even give little ones a pin without trading.