No kidding: These tots can shop.

Byline: Anne Williams The Register-Guard

SPRINGFIELD - A warning to parents: The Springfield Public Library's annual children's flea market may sound like a great venue for offloading kiddie junk, but you're likely to leave with more than you brought.

That certainly looked to be the case for 6-year-old Ryleigh Scott of Springfield, who was there Thursday morning with her mother and cousin to peddle an assortment of her own handmade wares, including necklaces fashioned from clay and scrapbook stickers; delicate cloth purses adorned with ribbons and buttons; decorated picture frames; and figures made from ironed beads.

Sales were slow. Halfway into the two-hour market, Ryleigh had sold one $1 necklace and given away a second to a child who had no money. But the soon-to-be-first-grader - with help from her bargain-hunting cousin, 10-year-old Alec Wiggins - already had acquired four Barbie dolls, five My Little Pony figures, two baby dolls, a ring and necklace made from foam board and glitter, and a bright green plastic caterpillar toy for her 14-month-old brother, Shea.

"We'll probably go home with a lot more stuff, but that's OK," said her mother, Christy Scott, who heard about the flea market from a flier Ryleigh brought home from her school, Mount Vernon Elementary.

As for Alec, he scored a used

Fuzion scooter for $10, which he

gleefully wheeled about.

"One of these new would be $100," said Alec, who is visiting from Virginia and will have to ship it back home.

The three were among a crowd of more than 100 children, parents and other guardians who set up shop in the plaza between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. The sale items - displayed on blankets or small tables - included hand-made jewelry, books, Hot Wheels cars, Pokemon cards, puzzles, stuffed animals, dolls, videotapes and DVDs, molded plastic figures and much more. Prices ranged from a dime for a plastic bracelet to $20 for a furnished wooden doll house, but there was plenty of bargaining going on.

Students and teachers from the Learning Tree Day School's Treehouse summer program took up one corner of the plaza, with each of the 22 children hawking their own stuff. The students, all in bright green Treehouse T-shirts, got to take school buses to the library.

"It's the second year we've done it," teacher Hallee Raube said. "The kids love it - it's really exciting for them."

Among the "veteran" vendors were Angela Larsen and her two sons, 3-year-old Milo LaFollett and 7-year-old Teddy LaFollett, who have come since 2004.

"It's just so much fun to see the kids bartering and learning about money," Larsen said.

This was the sixth year the library has hosted the popular event, youth services director Barbara Thompson said. Young entrepreneurs were treated to a free lunch, courtesy of FOOD for Lane County, which runs its kids' summer lunch program weekdays at the library.

Chris Pietsch / The Register-Guard

CAPTION(S):

Six-year-old Ryleigh Scott, who ran a booth at the annual children's flea market with her mother, Christy Scott, tucks a dollar into her toy cash register. Chris Pietsch / The Register-Guard Many different items, including jewelry and other trinkets, were sold at the annual children's flea market on Thursday.