Hi Jennifer,
I am so excited that your 6-year-old is getting into
pin trading. It is such a fun tradition that I have been doing since I was little. Getting my kids started was so exciting for me and they still love it as they have gotten older! It is also a great way to get a little one used to interacting with people and making conversation.
You can order any set and split all of the pins out for trading. No matter what set the pin came from, it will be traded one for one. When you are first starting, I like to get a special set somewhere like
Frontier Trading Post or
Disney's Pin Traders that I know the trader will love and want to keep forever. Both of these stores also sell pin lanyards and purses that make carrying around all of those pins super easy. When I was starting my kids' collection, I supplemented specialty packs of pins with a lot purchased from a third-party seller. People will get a large collection of pins after many years of trading and decide to sell a pack of 15 or more at once on a third-party site. It is a great inexpensive way to get your daughter started with pins she is more than happy to trade throughout the theme parks. If you want to make sure she has a lanyard when she arrives, you can get one of the starter sets on the
official Disney Store site.
No matter where you get your pins from, the important factor is that whatever pin you are trading needs to be an official Disney pin. Disney Parks Blog recently
published an article highlighting pin trading and all of the new exclusive pins you should be on the lookout for. My favorite way to grow my kids' collection is getting them a pin for each new ride they try as they get older. Once they are big enough to tackle Expedition Everest or Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it is a fun surprise to grab a celebratory pin afterward!
Happy Trading,
Jenna