What Do You Do with All of Your Children's Artwork?

I put my kids art work in slip covers in 3 ring binders. They LOVE this because they have "volumes" of artwork starting from when they first began drawing. You can see how their artwork evolved from scribbles, to faces, to meatball people.....you know the progression:)
My oldest is 11 and we have 4 "volumes". It's very space efficient! The only issue is when they do bigger pictures. Sometimes we cut them down to fit in the binder, and sometimes I just snap a picture of it, or of them holding it, and put the picture in the binder.
Enjoy your little artist!!!

I file them in folders and the very special ones that we (my kids & I) decide is the right ones, we display them on the walls in their room or throught the house. We also have a scrapbook setup that sits on the shelf or coffee table to show to guests.

I saw this on a commercial but is a great idea. Take digital pictures of each piece of art work. Display a slideshow on a disital picture frame. That way you have memories of all the pictures w/o saving them all :) I have yet to do this, but i am planning on it.

Try a binder with sheet protectors, or a scrapbook/photo album. Waldenbooks on 3rd and Bell has a lot of oversized ones in their bargain section. I used to be a kindergarden art teacher and one year I laminated all of the projects for the parents and attached them with binder rings at the top. This is another option. With my children, I framed a couple of my favorites and still have them throughout the house. I have gotten a lot of compliments from visitors and have a house full of priceless original art.

Hi! What I usually do is let my daughter pick one of her favorite pieces for the fridge and one or two of her favorites for her scrapbook. She likes to see her pictures in her book! And we rotate the ones on the fridge every couple of days.

We make one scrapbook a year so each book is labeled "when I was 2, when I was 3" etc...

When she sees some being saved, she doesn't mind throwing others away.

It's a great way to keep them from getting bent or torn and when she is older she will enjoy looking back. Once she starts school, I want to put other things in there too...her first spelling test, awards, essays etc.

You can find albums just about anywhere. Have fun! You're making memories that will be so precious to him when he's grown up!

I ordered a storage box from a place called SchoolFolio (www.SchoolFolio.com). I also have taken photos of some of the work I haven't kept & made slideshows of it for my daughter to look at & to send to relatives that she wants to share it with. There is also a service that you can send the artwork to & they can turn it into a picture collage. We keep 8x10 box frames in our kitchen that my daughter changes out every week with new stuff so everything gets a turn at display.

I keep a 3-ringed binder of my kids' artwork. I take my favorites of the week (or their favorites) and put it in a plastic sleeve labeled for that week (one for each week of the year). Then we mail the extra artwork to different grandparents once a month.

I had heard someone say once that they took their extra artwork to a local nursing home. Many of the elderly do not have people to visit them regularly so bringing your kids and having them pass out their artwork gives the people enjoyment and "brightens" up their rooms. (Obviously you would need to ask if it is okay first). This is something that I will do when my kids are a little older as a way for them to volunteer their time and think about others (my oldest are only 3).

Have you ever seen that show NEAT???
Well one of the mothers had two artists in the family and she had kept all thier paintings and it took up a whol closet and they were only in the second and fifth grade. She suggested to get portfolies for each child and once it weas full. to only keep favorites(3-7) and frame them in the house.

Once the portfolio was full again to do the same thing. And the ones in the frames are to go into a favorites portfolio and to make a scrapbook of the favorites. She said you could do a scrapbook every year for each child. She said to pick a few of your favorites and let your child pick a few, so that way later they will really remember the favorites beucase they picked them..

I hope this helps..

N.

a lot of folks "scrapbook"...i make journals which helps me get in touch with my own artistic needs.
i cut out pieces of their art work and collage it into a photo album..
some art that is very special that are too large or detailed to cut down, i have a plastic bin i just date the back and throw it into the pile.
every few years, i look back through it and "let go" of some of the things that are redundant or i feel the kids may not appreciate when they're older.
in my mind, i'm making and keeping these to hand off to them as they grow into adults, get married, or have children of their own...
one other idea is to take pictures of their artwork and keep it on a cd or make a photo album...

In our dining room we have three wires wrapped on nails across one wall. They are stacked on top of each other so that we can display lots of artwork at once and the fridge stays clutter free. We have fun paper clips and little clips to hangs the work with and a few snapshots here and there. It's a great way to show it off and it helps my little guy feel like he gets some say in the decor and he's proud to show it all off to dinner guests!

When the wires start sagging, we decide which ones to turn into stationary and "write" letters to grammas and family that live far away. That's extra fun and usually results in mail for Milo.

Gotta love all that art huh?!

We got a wire curtain hanger from Ikea that you can mount to the wall. Then, we hang the artwork with the clips that they also sell. It makes it look really neat, and it the kids love to see their things on display. Also, they can clip their artwork to it as they go.

You can also start scrapbooking their art, take photos of them and save them digitally, or take some of their best pieces and have them put on mugs, mousepads or other items. Don't forget family - whou would also love to receive some art pieces, which will help free up some space for you!

Here are some neat links on the subject:
http://www.kidsartstor.com/
http://creationsbyyou.com/
http://artshowforkids.com/
http://www.reginalewis.com/2007/09/25/buried-in-your-chil...

Best,
C.

My daughter is in her last year of preschool. For all of last years artwork, I scanned it into computer or took pics of the art that was too big for my scanner. I went to Blurb.com and made a softcover book out of all the artwork. It turned out great and depending on how many pages you have it wasn't too expensive. I plan on doing the same with all of this years art as well.

I saved alot of my older kids art work too- they are now in their mid 20's! I need to think them out finally! You could scan them and save to a DVD and make a scrapbook out of them, scan and send to a photobook site like Shutterfly and create a bound book with them as well. Many choices. It's hard to part with them for sure! Good luck!

Hi, this is the perfect question for me-I am a art teacher! I would suggest taking digital pictures and keeping them on CD's. Save the most important special pictures and toss the rest after you have saved them digitally. There are online art galleries that you can post art in for relatives to view all over the world. A great site that I use is called Artsonia.com. It is nice because you can view your child's art over the years and they have places for comments and give awards for participation. You can also buy t-shirts, coffee cups, etc. with the child's artwork on them. With the special pictures I would frame them, a great company with cheap prices is Graphik Dimensions Ltd/ pictureframes.com. I used this company for my graduate artshow and if you put your frame together yourself it is very inexpensive. I am so glad to hear a parent who has a great appreciation for their child's artistic talent and creativity. Good Luck!

Dear J C,

Congrats on having a little Rembrandt. I have a daughter that loves to draw, paint etc. I have dedicated a wall in our kitchen/dining area where I display her work. It is kind of a hodge/podge but I let her tell me where she wants me to hang it. She is very proud and when she does a new piece, she now tells me we will put it on "her wall". At dinner time, we talk about her work.

Secondly, this past Christmas, I bought additional copies (5 x 7) of her school picture. I bought a double frame and I put her picture in one side and then cut out her "artwork" and put her artwork on the other side. That way, each gift was unique and represented who she is. Even though the photo was the same, each artwork was different. Everyone loved it.

The rest of the work I keep in a drawer. That way, when I need creative gift ideas from her - I have something to fall back on.

I hope this helps.

L.

Hi JC, I am the mother of 4 Children and grandmother of 3, going 4 grandchildren. When my kids were growing up, I had the same problem. I made a scrap book for each year for them and I still have them all to this day. It is wonderful to get them out and look at them every now and then and my kids really enjoy them also. Hope this helps!

The best way I have been able to not only preserve those precious memories but also it is inexpensive to do.Just buy the sheet protectors that have 3 holes already punched in them.Most of them Open at the top of the page, and there are several different thickness to them. I then put them in a 3 ring binder. It can be a fancy 3 ring binder or use metal rings to hold them together. You can get real creative yourself in decorating the binder. Not only is the paper protected but, if there are glued items on some of the papers and they fall off..it will still be all together. Again, it is still cheaper than trying to put them in a scrap book but they can be around to look at instead of in file of some kind. Have fun!!

Hi JC!

An interesting idea that I read about is to take a picture of the different artwork, then print it out small and put the small prints in an index box...
Also, putting the artwork up on a blank wall and have the child stand in front of the wall and take a picture of the child and artwork can give you a picture of the artwork and a guilt free feeling when you have to weed them out because your collection is getting way too large.
I have also taken a couple of my children's larger pieces and bought a poster frame for them. They really make a good conversation piece. ;-)
Have fun! Don't fret over throwing some out...

Huggs,

L.

JC,

I saw this idea that I think is just wonderful. Scan or take a picture of the artwork. Once you have enough saved you can make a DVD of them or even get one of those digital picture frames and let them play on that.

Just save the most precious ones and all the others can be saved digitally.

Hope this helps.
B.

Hello!

I scanned all of my daughter's art into the computer, but still keep the originals in one big bin. For this year I took some of the best art and made a calendar with it via a photo services site. It was a big hit with the grandparents : ) and we have one as well.

D.

i have the same thing between my two kids what I have done is put a box for both of them and when they are old enough like my daughter is now i let her choose which ones she wants to keep and we went through all her old ones and kept the ones she liked and discarded the ones she didn't. And now we keep them up until the next one comes home and then we take it off the fridge and put it in the box or she might already want to throw it away and then we also send some to grandparents who don't see them all the time.. And then they do what they want with them... But that is a thought for you and also with my younger child I keep what means the most or what is actually done or if i can tell what he has done and thats how i sort through his at this time. and i never let him see me toss the ones I don't understand or have just one little mark on them good luck.. is till to this day have my box that I did with my mom and I pull it out and show my kids and we see if there is something they made like I did and they like that... Angie

I'm sure this one has already been mentioned, but store them in the large plastic containers. That is what I do with my daughters. Then maybe take a few current ones and get them framed and display them in an appropriate area in your home such as a play room, media room, etc..... If framing them is too expensive you can usually do it yourself for way cheaper. I have gone to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and just bought the frames myself and have framed them and then I have displayed them along the walls to the upstairs of my house and down the hallway walls to the childs room.

JC,

I am an artist with 3 kids and my middle son loves to draw. He is 9. For the pictures that you already have buy you son an inexpensive artist portfolio to keep his work in. This way you can put them away in the closet or attic and they will be preserved. You also might invest an some sketch books and tell him to keep the pages in the book so that you can look at them anytime and so that they won't get lost. I hope that this helps.

God Bless!

D.

FOr the really specials ones that we get on holidays I put in a scrapbook. Other than that scan them you can email them to family memebers anywhere then when you get quite a few burn them to a cd and store somewhere safe. WE have all stuff saved in a fire proof box we back-up all our digital photo's this way! There's always just to much arkwork to keep up and you feel terrible even throwing away any scrap of it but it will get to be out of control and with house's out here in Az that have NO storage it is easier!

Hi J C,

Try putting them in a scrapbook. I'm having to do the same thing with my sons art projects that he does at daycare.

Hope this suggestion helps!

I.

Get a bright colored binder form the Office supply store and plastic sleeves. Put the art work into the plastic sleeves. Or take oictures of the art work up against a solid colr wall, then put those pictures onto your computer as a slide show. Then get a document box to store them in and have frames that you can rotate the pictures in and out of. That way you always have a display, but it never gets out of hand. They also have lovely portfolios you can buy you can get add ons to the file sleeves and pack them pretty full.

I have a GIANT box of artwork. I recently decided to take digital photos of all of it and save it to a disk so I can see them whenever I want. Then i have to toss them because I simply have no more room for all of it.
Good luck!

Buy yourself a big rubbermaid container. Keep art work out for a little them put in there is a zip loc baggie. When the graduate from high school pull it out and make a wall of fame for his graduation. Then send it home with him when he gets his own place or get married. Thats what I did and my boys loved it so they kept the container and shuffle it around with them.

Each month I hang my daughters art work for her to admire then at the end of the month she decides if she wants to keep any of it (i do to) then the pieces she doesn't want to keep we send in big manilla envolopes to grandparents, aunts and uncles that don't live close so she can share what she's been doing w/them too. They absolutely love getting their "packages" each month.

Once you get past wanting to keep them all, look for creative ways to keep and share them. We take pictures of 3D art and scan the flat documents and print them up smaller and put them in an album/scrapbook. The truly special works of art go in a bin and at the end of the school year we pick 10-15 of them and put them in a folder or box for that school year and keep them in a foot locker. Each kid has their own locker. You can also share them with family and friends that live in another town. Just take a picture and email it away! Or take a picture and send the original to someone. Eventually you end up with the memories, but not all the paper.

I have some special pieces hanging on walls around the office and house - framed and unframed - plus there is always something attached with a magnet to the fridge - but most of it is in boxes waiting to be scrap-booked - an easy way to scrapbook is to buy ring binders and page protectors - just add a new pocket for every other piece or so and you have them neat and visible - and if the piece is larger or more three dimensional you don't have to cut it to fit - just fold it carefully and insert it in one so it can be removed for proper viewing at will - then they can be labeled on the spine with dates or titles and easily stored on bookshelves with photo albums and other similar memorabilia - for sculptures or other "not on paper" artwork - most of them become knick-knacks and sit on shelves or windowsills - our home isn't a design showplace for much of anything - except our kids' art

I take all my childs artwork. Tape it on a wall closely,
and I take a picture with my camera and put it in a scrap
book. That way I can see 6 pieces of his artwork on one
photograph. And I can remember all of them, not just the
ones I kept.

Hi JC!
What I did for my kids was to temporarily tape up the month's creations to the refridgerator. I would put a small sign with the month and year at the top. My son would stand next to it, maybe holding an item that he made that we couldn't tape up, like a statue from pottery class. I would take a photo or two and keep those to remind us what he had done. We would keep unique itams not just colored, but something only he could have down in a portfolio, found at an art store. Don't throw away anything until you see that the photo is good and doesn't have to be redone. We also keep all of the holiday decorations he made (Christmas, Easter, etc.) and put them on the walls at that time. We still have a Santa he nade 15 years ago in Preschool. It's fun to remember the stories that often go with the picture and we get a kick out of how far he has come!!

Try www.ShareMyKidsArt.com - I love this website! It's free and lets you store and organize your children's art. The thing I like it about the most is it has these little buttons so that you can email or upload to your facebook wall pieces of art; this is really nice for us because we live in California and my parents live in Hawaii and my wife's parents live in NY. If one of our children create something we want to share with the grandparents, we simple press a button.

The only thing is you need to scan or photograph the art, which seems like a hassle but it's actually fairly easy. Good luck!

You can buy a three ring binder and some page protectors and put the art work in that. You can use your favorite pieces for the front and back cover. Just don't forget to put the dates on the back of each piece of art.

I plan on taking digital photos of my daughter's artwork then load them on Shutterfly and make a book of art work. You can also add captions to the pages to personalize the book. The originals I am going to try to keep 1-2 a year to save to give to her when she is adult.

You could laminate them and put them in a three ring binder.

K.

Hi JC,
My mom kept a paper bag for each of us with our names on them, where we put all our masterpieces.

When the bags got full, she had us go through them ourselves, and decide which ones we wanted to keep and put in a scrapbook (we glued them in ourselves, too - fun).

This way, we decided for ourselves which pieces were nice enough to keep, and which ones were okay to "trash."

My Mom still has all our books, and they're so fun to look at! I'm gong to do the same for our kiddoes.

T

Funny you should ask because I was wondering the same thing. My son goes to preschool, and he brings home projects all the time. I love them all. I put up the recent projects on the frig, until he brings me home more, and then I alternate. Then I put the other ones into a storage bin I got from WalMart. I was just talking to my husband about these projects and I'm wanting to make a photo album with just his projects in it. They're usually on an 8x10 paper, so I'm going to look into buying a photo album that I can stick these in. Then I'll call it, "Preschool 2007-2008". Along with his name of course. :-)
I'm not a pack rat myself, but I'm with you. I think it's important to keep projects (art projects), because later on after he grows up, you both can sit down and reflect back on his work and tell him how happy it makes you to have all of his beautiful art work. :-) Talk about a confidence booster for sure!
Hope this idea helps you. :-)

scan them into your computer and then throw them away. This way they can be looked at at any time (and even printed) but you don't have to have stacks of paper around your house.

well for me.. i buy those plactic totes. and put all my grandsons in there to keep.. and there easy to store.. i would never get rid of them as i can go back and look at them with him... and he just loves it when i do that.... he is 6 years old...

My husband bought me a scanner for Christmas for this very same reason. The scanner is high quality and the scans look 3D like some of the images. I then keep the originals in a covered bin. My daughter loves to see her art pop up on my screen saver and I post the art scans on my blog for friends and family to see.

My assistant's mother kept all of her childhood art work and upon graduation from high school presented her with several binders of art divided up over the years. She brought some in to share and it was the neatest thing to look at the art of my 30 year old assistant from when she was little. She claims this is one of her most treasured possessions.

Hi JC,
I have a big plastic box under my bed that I keep all those thing in. That way they don't get lost or bent. That way I can give them back to my son when he gets older to see the wonderful things he had done in art and school, and things that he has made for me and his dad. Hopefully he will appreciate that when he gets older.

A friend of mine has a wall of artwork. She hangs all of her childs artwork on the wall. When the wall gets full, they take a picture of it (so you will have a record of ALL of the work) and then she lets the child pick a few to keep. That way you have the originals of a few and then the picture can remind you of all the others.

Will they fit into a binder or folder? You could even have each laminated, even do it yourself with clear contact paper. I know of someone who had one piece of her children's art (her favorite of each child's), matted and framed and hung them in her home. They were older already when she had this done, but a great way to let your child know how much their work means to you!

Make a scrapbook out of them! :-) That is what I am going to do with all the artwork from my kids. I just need to get that spray you use to make them acid free so they last forever! I am then going to pass them on to their children when they have them.