Many people love collecting unique items as a hobby. One of them is collecting maps especially antique maps. Parents should encourage their children to develop such a hobby because it is something that will not just please your child but it is something through which your child will learn a lot.

Before a child starts to collect maps he or she must know about the general considerations for collecting maps. One should know about the elements on a map, how to read a map, different papers used for printing maps, learning how to recognize fake maps from  the authentic ones etc. Parents should help the child in doing this and should also build his interest. If one is collecting maps according to their history, it is important to preserve the maps in a chronological order. The best thing that your child can do as an amateur map collector is to visit antique map shops, talk to the dealers and see the wide range of maps that are available. Not just that, there are dedicated map fairs, and antiquarian book fairs which help to learn a lot about maps. Maps of Africa, Russia, and South America and other less popular regions can be very affordable. Old antique world maps dating back to the 16th and the 17th century are very expensive as against the new ones.

Collecting maps will help your child to learn a lot about different places, their climatic conditions, their topography etc. Mere collection of maps is not enough. Make sure that your child enjoys studying those maps as much as collecting them. There is a lot of scope of learning in map collection. This can be fun at the same time can be very interesting as well.