3 Steps to Deal with Kids’ Art (So. Much. Art.)
One of the coolest things about being a parent is seeing your kids’ progress as they grow. You go from doing everything for them to watching them learn how to do things for themselves and gain independence. What were once tentative steps are now sprints to the swing set. Where you once pointed out pictures in books, your child is now recognizing words and actually reading pages of books rather than memorizing her favorites. And what were once scribbles on paper are now works of art.
Lots and lots of art.
So much art.
This is just a couple of days’ of work.
My 4-year-old daughter can sit and draw and color for hours. She loves practicing writing letters and she loves drawing pictures. I give her a stack of scrap paper and she produces works of art complete with princesses, castles, our family, strollers, butterflies, football players, Disney characters — you name it, she’ll try to draw it. It’s not uncommon for her to come home from a day of school with five or more pages of detailed drawings. She sat down and drew personalized Valentines for our family. Not all of them are keepers — she’s also known for starting a picture and tossing it to the side when a feature isn’t just right — but I hate to throw away the really good ones or the ones that have meaning, like the Valentines. I can’t keep them all though, so I’ve had to work something out. Here are my three steps to containing the crazy mess of kids’ art I’ve got going.
3 Steps to Deal with Kids’ Art
Step 1: Stop feeling guilty. You simply cannot keep all of it or soon you’ll be invited to star in an episode of Hoarders. As long as you don’t throw away anything truly meaningful and as long as your child doesn’t see you trash it, you’re golden.
Step 2: Display it where you can. I hang art on the refrigerator, the windows of our back door, on a big mirror and above my computer. We get to enjoy it, and then I can decide what to do with it after that. This works particularly well for seasonal art.
Kids’ art brightens any room!
Step 3: Store it. Because you’re now only keeping projects that are genuinely impressive, you can easily store it a couple of ways. I have an old diaper box for larger projects that will be fun to look through one day. For simple drawings, get a cute three-ring notebook, buy a hole punch and try to keep up with your little Picasso. Don’t forget to date the pictures so you’ll know when your artist did it!
Now I just have to figure out what to do when I fill up the notebook. I guess the next step is a dedicated shelf in my office for the many notebooks I’m sure she’ll fill!
How do you store kids art? Feel any guilt for throwing it away? I feel a twinge of guilt here and there, but I find myself getting pickier with what are “keepers” as she gets to be a better artiste! —Erin