What To Do With Kids’ Artwork?
A reader asks: “What do you suggest I do with the artwork my kids bring home from school? Some things are clearly not their best work but so many seem worth keeping. How can I organize all this paper?”
This is a very good question. We love all the creative work our kids do for us. It’s cute and touching and… we want to keep all of it. However, from an organizing point of view, we have to realistic and think of just how much artwork would fill and overrun our homes if we kept it all.
Start by displaying the artwork on the fridge or some other prominent area of your home, so that it can be suitably admired by family and visitors. When new artwork comes home, take down the old artwork and replace it with the new.
But what to do with the old pieces as they come down?
Here’s one idea, which works especially well if your family and friends are spread out over different cities. When the old art work comes down, have the child sign it and write a note on it. Then help them mail it to someone special—grandparents, aunts and uncles, friends who’ve moved away, anyone they know. This way their beautiful artwork can be shared with friends and family, and it doesn’t pile up in your home.
Another giving option is similar, but is ideal for families and friends in the same town who visit frequently. When someone comes over and admires the displayed artwork, encourage the child who created it to make a gift of it. This can be a touching moment and helps the child to learn giving rather than hoarding.
Artwork can make beautiful giftwrap. Help your child use the art work as wrapping paper for a birthday party or Christmas gift he or she is giving. This is a particularly good option for artwork on a larger scale, which covers gifts well and is harder to give or store.
Finally, there will be some particularly special pieces that are worth keeping as mementoes of the child’s artistic development or a cherished moment. Each child should have one box (preferably of clear plastic with a tight-fitting lid, and only the size of a desk drawer) in which to store those few special pieces. One box is enough to store a representative collection of the child’s school years. When the box is full, do not get another one; you must make a choice of what to keep and what to let go.
