Welcome! I trade with my two sons (ages 6 & 10) They have a ball. The
Disney Store is a great place to start right now. The pins start at $4 (If you have a Disney Club card, there is a 10% discount). I would stock up on these. Or, there are a few other places. If you have a car in Florida, you can go to the Beltz store (i'm sure someone here can give directions) or the other Disney Outlet store in Orlando and pick up old pins for around $3-4.
The reason to stock up is...... when you start trading, you need to have something to trade with. If you go into the parks with nothing, pins cost $8-10. Your kids will want to trade alot! So, $4 a pin means you have twice as many to trade.
Your kids should start out trading with the CM's (cast members/employees). They wear lanyards and must trade if they don't already have that pin. It's an easy trade and the kids don't have to know all about pins to make the trade.
If you trade with individuals, watch the person first. Are they nice to the kids? There are waht we call pin sharks ~ traders who would take advantage of their mother if that means they get what they want. You will know them when you see them. They are set up with lots of pin books and often won't give kids or new traders the time of day unless you happen to have a rare pin that they want.
But, there are tons of nice traders out there, much more than there are sharks. They will go out of their way to trade with the kids just to make them happy. You'll know them when you see them too.
I have not been yet (I'll be there in November!). The Friday night meet at the contemporary is a gathering of many "nice" traders. It would be a great place to learn a little bit about pin trading and meet lots of people you'll see on these boards.
There are also pin seminars in Epcot and I think Magic Kingdom. I plan on attending those with my kids as well to learn more. They'll tell you what cool pins are out in the parks right now.
Most of all. Have Fun!
Chris
