Display it
Display your children’s work of art throughout your home…don’t just limit artwork displays to the kitchen refrigerator, next to the pizza menu or scotched taped to the back of a door. Creative displays not only look more appealing in your home but they add value to your child’s artwork. Show your child that you value and appreciate their doodles and artwork by displaying it BEAUTIFULLY for a period of time. In our home we have a bulletin board in the playroom that gets rotated weekly, a large bulletin board display in our mudroom that gets rotated monthly and picture frames throughout the house that display some of our favorites for 6-12 months.
Edit it
After you’ve displayed the artwork for a period of time have your child help you decide what you will keep, what you will give away and what you will photograph and/or throw away. Once children get used to the idea that their artwork rotates through the house they tend to want to hand on to it less. In our home I’m often the one who wants to keep it up longer than my children!
Gift it
Encourage children to pick a family member or close friend that they would like to give some of their artwork to. This can be done formally (in a frame), informally (presented as is)or used to create another gift such as notecards of their drawings, a calendar or even a mug.For grandparents consider giving them “art of the month” packages with a selection of original artwork created by their grandchildren.
Archive it
Once you’ve decided what you are keeping you have a few options. Depending on the type of artwork and the size you may want to consider keeping the original in an archival box. For larger pieces that are harder to store you can also scan or photograph the artwork and create a digital album showcasing your children’s work. Oftentimes this is just as much fun to look at as the original was. Especially since you could easily store 12 albums of your children’s artwork in less than a foot of shelf space!
Retire it
Once you’ve displayed it, edited it, gifted it and archived it, the only thing left to do is retire any remaining artwork to your trash bin. Usually when your kids aren’t watching. If you start to come down with a bad case of Mommy (or Daddy) guilt for not saving every piece of paper your dear child ever touched, look around your house at the other pieces of art you have displayed and don’t forget about those art books you created from scans and pictures.
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