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What to Do With Your Child’s Art

It’s that time of year again when your child floods your home with school drawings and art projects as they celebrate their artistic endeavors. You begin to display these masterpieces on the fridge, on their bedroom doors, maybe even the walls in the garage or wherever else there is a space.

But what do you do with all the art year after year? You want to reclaim your home, but you don’t want to throw out these precious creative designs. More importantly, you want your child to have that high self-esteem…and so the artwork keeps piling up.

Here are a few ways to help sort out these accomplishments. But please note:  You should involve your child in this process as well and I will explain why this is so important in just a bit.

First, find a place in your home that you can make room for four different piles – one for display, one for storage, one for mailing, and one for the trash (scary word I know).

Display

One of the best ways to show your child how much you appreciate their art is to have them choose 3 or 4 of their favorite pieces and frame them for display. Hang them in your home as you would a regular picture and show how special they are.

Store

Purchase some type of portfolio at an art-supply store and help them decide which pieces represent a milestone in their lives. Fill the portfolio up and write the year in school that represents this artwork and then store the portfolios in sealed clear containers for future enjoyment. There are also companies out on the internet that can scan all your child’s artwork into a little book that can then sit out on a coffee table or sit on a bookshelf.

Mail

Grandparents, other distant relatives and nursing homes all love children’s artwork. Why not send the artwork in simple mailing tubes and have your child write a personal note. With all the digital communication in our faces today, it is a breath of fresh air to send tangible artwork in the mail to someone you care about. And in return, the recipient will be happy to see an unexpected package come in the mail.

Disappear (Trash)

Remember when I said above that you should involve your child in the sorting process from the beginning? Here’s why…It’s inevitable that some of your child’s work will need to be recycled, right? This isn’t a bad thing. You can be a good role model by sorting your own stuff on a regular basis and therefore cultivate the same idea that there are things you keep and things you have to let go of throughout their lifetime.

So even though the parent handbook didn’t teach us how to deal with years’ worth of children’s artwork, you can still show your own little Picasso how much you love their creations simply by using a little love from your heart and these simple tips above.