Berkeley Parents Network: Organizing Kids' Artwork

Berkeley Parents Network

Organizing Kids' Artwork

Berkeley Parents Network > Advice > Household Management > Organizing Kids' Artwork

related page: Advice about Kids' Artwork

Dec. 2000

I would love ideas of how families display and store their children's artwork. Our refrigerator is already packed and taped-up artwork doesn't seem to hold up well. Also, I can't yet bear to throw anything out. Our preschooler is 3 and we have quite a collection already. Thanks.

We used a clothesline, strung along one big wall in our children's bedroom (at 3 levels) and used clothespins to display the "collection". We rotated old and new artwork on and off the display. The old artwork was piled up, and then every few months we'd go through it and cull the best. (As time passes you'll become less attached to every single one.) A few months later we would "de-accession" from the collection again, until we had a reasonable amount for the year, which we then put into an acid-free storage boxes (obtained at art supply stores, or through Exposures catalogue). I have a feeling that once we go back into the yearly collections, we'll be able to dispose of more. You could also consider photographing some of the art work before disposal. Believe me, by the time your kids are in elementary school you'll become much less sentimental - particularly when they start bringing home masterpieces made of clay. We display them for a while, then move them out to the garage, and if the children don't ask about the piece for a few months, it is consigned to the dustbin of history. I recently was given a box of goodies that my mother had saved from my elementary school career - 7 years worth in one box. That seemed like just the right amount. (My second grader was delighted to find that there was a tracing of my feet and hands from second grade that exactly matched hers!) - Natasha

I too can't bear to throw most of my 3-year-old's artwork out, so I designated one hallway in our home (a very public hallway, by the way), her "gallery." We have about 20 pictures hanging there now--ranging from random abstract paintings to textile art with poms poms, feathers, noodles, etc. I also put one of her bigger paintings in her room and a few of my favorites in my office. When it's time to put some away, I store them in a big box and I try to date them. I know some parents don't like to clutter up their houses with this "messy" stuff, but I love seeing it all around us and she's thrilled every time I tape a new one up. Susan

We looped "clothesline" along the kitchen walls, right next to the ceiling. We clip artwork up with clothespins; there's room for lots of stuff, its very cheerful and I don't mind so much storing or recycling pictures after they've been up a long time. Jennifer

I have put up string like a clothesline along the wall(s) in my son's bedroom and we hang his artwork from it with clothespins. It's at a height that he can reach, so he can arrange things as he likes, and it couldn't be easier to add and remove things. dpbrenner

For displaying artwork, we have a working pile in the garage that gets sorted periodically. At this point, our 4 year old chooses some favorite pieces to put up with tape on a section of the kitchen wall we cleared for the purpose. I also bought some relatively inexpensive black plastic art portfolios in different sizes at art supply stores. We use these to store, protect and show the art that we choose to keep. Its fun to see how good one's artwork looks in such a setting. The rest gets recycled into collages or cards, or for present wrapping. Sounds so organized, but the pile is almost toppling over at the moment! Yay for fountains of creativity! Jennifer

displaying: my sister has 3 girls who paint and draw continuously. She has a few of those inexpensive poster-sized box frames hanging in her den. One frame can hold a big piece, or several smaller works. She rotates the kids' art through the frames - changes them every month or so. I guess it is a big honor for a new picture to go up.

saving: My oldest turned 18 last month. For his bday I made him a scrapbook with photos of his friends, drawings and schoolwork, activities, etc over the past 18 years. This took me several days because I had to plow through a big box of artwork and other stuff I had saved over the years. To tell you the truth, I saved WAY too much stuff. And it is really hard to throw it out once you have been saving it for 15 years. So save selectively. What you really want is a nice representative sample of special stuff. But one thing I found in that big box was versions of him writing his name, first in pre-school, then in school, then cursive, etc. all the way up to his current illegible signature. I made one page in the scrapbook with "Joe"s all over the page he'd written over the years. I think this would be a fun thing to save - signatures over the years, pictures of pets over the years, etc.

If you have a blank wall in your living room or den, you can put up two picture hooks about 4-5 feet apart and attach a string from hook to hook. Then you can hang children's artwork with clothespins from the string. Each of my children has such a "gallery" which gets layered upon as the year progresses. I periodically remove the back layers and (selectively) pack their treasures away with the rest of their schoolwork for the year. Aside from seeing their artwork and feeling proud, the best benefit is it only leaves two small nail holes in your wall where the picture hooks are. Stacey

Some ideas for what to do with your child's artwork:

--laminate some and turn them into placemats

--use the art in a 2001 calendar. Last year our 9 year old daughter picked 12 of her favorite drawings, color xeroxed them, put together a wonderful 12 month calendar, and gave them out as gifts. Instead of xeroxing drawings and creating identical calendars, you could also use original art for each calendar you produce.

--use the art to wrap presents--especially presents to family members (they will appreciate it more than a pre-schooler).

--frame some of your favorites and turn a wall in your house into an art gallery.

Karen

I put a few things my son has done in frames. For everything else - that I consider original artwork and that represents a statge I have purchased large folders (with closing flaps) at an art store (one for each year) and then decorated them with my son's name and the year and anything he wants to do to it. Then we put everything for that year in there. He is now 10 and loves going through his old artwork. Since he started school, things like stories and poems go in there too. Veronica

Perhaps you can rotate your displays and get used to throwing some of it away or recycling it -- I recently read something about how if kids bring home an average of 3 pieces of artwork a week starting in preschool, you're talking about thousands of items by the time they stop (after grade school?)! My 3-1/2 y.o. daughter enjoys using her artwork as wrapping paper for gifts, and also giving them as presents to her friends and family (then they can eventually throw it away without attachment or guilt!). Funnily enough, she always seems to pick the pieces I most wanted to save -- but hey, that's up to her!

To the mother who doesn't know what to with her 3 year old's art work. One thing you can do is to get together with your child and decide together which ones do you want to keep and throw away the rest. Another solution is get an inexpensive portfolio and beging making an albun of the ones you both like. You can make it into a fun game and your child can have access to it to show other kids (or yourself to show your child's art work to others) I have scanned my three year old's art work and put all her best art work on a CD (which you can print or make cards or later to send to relatives). I have picked up along with her the ones we think should be put up and framed them. One other thing I have done, (I am an Interactive Designer) is to create an interactive CD with her paintings and made it into an experience for her alomost like a game with music and titles. (If you like computers).

This Christmas I made a copy of this interactive art gallery to give as a present to her her Mom. If you are interested and learning more about interactive art work for kids you can contact me here: Guillermo

We bought a great file cabinet with 12 big wide drawers that are about 2" high (it's the type of storage photographers and graphic designers use). We found ours at a wonderful place behind Magic Gardens on Heinz (by where Whole Earth used to be.) We store all our artwork in it, take it out often, and every year I take one of each kids' pieces to the Reprint Mint on my birthday and get it poster mounted. It's their gift to me. Ann

Years ago I bought an old wooden shoji screen frame (sans paper) from East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. Unfortunately, I could never figure out how to get either paper or fabric into the frame without destroying it, so it was just gathering dust. It turns out, however, to be perfect for displaying my 3-year-old's artwork. I folded the three sections of the screen so that's it's a big triangular column. I use removable tape to attach pieces of art to the inside of the screen panels, cutting larger pieces of art to fit the frames. I don't have to be very precise about pasting the stuff on, since only the "good" side shows. Our "art column" usually sits in the entryway of our home, so everyone gets to see it. One whole side was filled just with Halloween and Thanksgiving art. Now we're filling up another side with Christmas art. --Lori

I have the opposite problem from the person who just asked about saving their children's art work. My son is 2 and a half, and I throw out almost all of the mountain of art he brings home from daycare. Of course, I admire them in his presence, and ask him about them, but he seems totally uninterested. I never throw them away in his presence or make fun of him, and I have put a few up on the fridge, but I just can't seem to save them if he is not interested. On the other hand, I am a real art lover- my son has already been to many of the great art museums in the country, and he does not hate this at least. Am I hurting him by not making a bigger deal of his artwork? Do other parents throw it away- from the number of comments from the last question, I feel guilty for throwing so much away. Lisa

I recently visited my sister who has two little kids and was very impressed with her solution. She found two large, carved and gilded picture frames at a junk store and hung them on the wall. Now she can tape up each son's latest and greatest creation inside the empty frames in an elegant "gallery" on one wall of their dining room.

My son accumulates what seems to be a "mountain of art" as well and I probably toss 75% of it on the sly. The main reason is that a lot of "art" is actually a variation of what he and all his other classmates have been asked to make using specific materials or colors. While results of that kind of exercise communicate other areas of his development to me and is often cute, it does not strike a chord of sentimentality or genuiness like a piece inspired and created by his imagination -- and those are the types of pieces I tend to keep and display.

Re: throwing away your kid's artwork. Yes, I throw most of it away except for the pieces I especially like, which I stick on the wall or date and put away in a folder so I have a record of what kind of work she was doing when. My daughter doesn't seem to care at all whether or not I keep them. I actually think that the drawings that my 4-year-old daughter does at home are more interesting than the elaborate artworks she produces at pre-school, and with those, I know she does them all herself, so I'm more likely to keep them. (I often use her drawings as bookmarks.) I'm asking to stay anonymous just because I don't want to offend any of the pre-school teachers who might read this and who may devote a lot of time to helping my daughter with her art work -- I don't want them to think it's not appreciated. It is greatly appreciated -- I just don't think the results all need to be preserved.

I just had to respond to this, because I have two little kids who have produced tons of art over the last few years, 90% of which I've thrown away. When my oldest daughter was about two or three I expressed my concern to her very wise preschool teacher about how little concern she (my daughter) had about preserving any of her pictures, paintings, play dough masterpieces, etc., and this teacher told me "little kids are into process, not product." I've realized over the years that this is very true. Kids live in the moment, they enjoy the moment of making the art but are quite casual about disposing of it. My younger daughter makes about a dozen drawings a day at her after school program, then crumples them up and shoves them in her pockets. She uncrumples them to show them to me, and I discreetly dispose of them later. Neither of my kids has ever asked "What ever happened to the something-or-other I made?" I do tape up my favorite and most colorful pictures in their rooms just for decor, and they have permission to display anything they want to in their rooms. I also keep quite a few of their pictures on the bulletin board in my office & enjoy looking at them. When my kids visit my office they're always pleased to see their old stuff. But I have no guilt about not keeping more. Melinda

RE: Children's artwork : I use some of my daughter's artwork as wrapping paper. The receivers of gifts are quite impressed with what I was just going to toss in the recycle bin. MIchele

I used my daughter's art work as wrapping paper and to make birthday crowns from. Anneke

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