How Long Do You save Your Children's Artwork or School Crafts?

I save the things that are nicest. Special holiday projects with a handprint and "firsts" - first time they drew a person, first time they wrote their name.

As a parent of 3 children (ages almost 7, 5, and 3) if I saved everything we'd have closets full.

The other thing I think about is - what am I going to do with it in the future? Am I saving it for me or for them? What would I do with a giant pile of every thing I made as a child (had my mother saved them - which she didn't, thankfully). Are you planning to give them to him when he's an adult? How much would you want from your Mom?

We have a long sturdy string I hung in the basement and I hang lots of projects up there. Then I switch them out and recycle as more comes in.

My son's homework/papers from 1st grade last about a week on the table, then go into recycling as the next pile comes in. He brings home stuff every single day - there is no point in saving it all.

J.

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I plan to scan them all, and then put select ones in the annual photo book that we make for ourselves and the grandparents. (we use snapfish).

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A good friend of mine came up with a terrific idea for two of her grandsons artwork after hearing and seeing that their mom couldn't throw anything away. She visited and took pictures of various pictures and artwork and made a photo book of each child's art for that school year and gave them to Mom for her birthday in August. She plans to do the same each year (and has enlisted her son should anything happen to her to carry on the tradition) and Mom confidently tossed out last years treasures as she has the books.

My friend ordered them through Shutterfly when they had 50% off deals, and is also making books as graduation gifts for several teens she has known their entire lives (they all live in a small town in OK.) I've seen the books and they are excellent quality and real treasures, and I plan to do the same when my little guy starts preschool in the fall : )

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We bought an art holder case. The super super fabulous pieces I also take a photo of and the photos are then included in our yearly Shutterfly birthday book that we give our daughter (which also serves as our yearly family album).

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we had a space in my sons room that we used push pins and hung his stuff up on the wall. he loved it. I have a big bin made by rubbermaid that slides under a bed. It is full of artwork from all of my kids. my daughter is almost 30 and there are things she made in it. I am still adding to it now from my younger son who is 16. I do not save stuff the grandchildren give me. I hang it on the fridge or door or whatever for a time then into the trash it goes.

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I keep the cutest stuff. For example, my hubby told my DD that he was going to the store with Mommy and she could stay home all by herself. He was totally joking and told her that, but she was still so concerned about it the next day that she drew a picture of a "sad baby b/c her mommy and daddy went to the store and left her alone". Lol. It was sad, but really cute. It's going in the box! We make all kinds of things all day during preschool, but most of that goes in the trash after a week or so.

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Keep SPECIAL things but don't become a hoarder. I have a good number of things because I had only one child.

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Scan them all! Keep your personal favorites in a footlocker or chest with your child's name on it. Scanning them preserves them for years and makes it easier to share.

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I have a Kindergartenter and a preschooler. We put the favorites up on the kitchen wall for a while then save them in a box or XL ziploc bag. At the end of the year we sort things out and save the favorites. I got a tip someplace to only keep enough to fit in a large (clean) pizza box.

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Generally speaking, I don't! We go through his back pack and he tells me about each thing, then, if he is attached to it, he can put it on his bulletin board, otherwise straight to recycling.

If it's the FIRST of something (like he brought home this little "report" he wrote on tigers) I take a picture before tossing it. Heartless, I know, but there's no space to keep it.

Also, if the craft is really cute, we put a hook or a ribbon on it and add it to the tree decorations for Christmas.

:)
T.

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I struggle with this too...as evident by my 3 rather LARGE plastic containers I currently have and the 3 most current pieces of 'art' tacked up to my dining room wall!

Kids ages 8, 6 & 4!

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I put one or two pieces on the fridge when they come home. They get replaced when new stuff comes. The really good stuff I either put into their school days scrapbook or a box I have for each child momentos. The box is mainly for projects not on paper but that are worth keeping and paper that is larger than 12x12 that I chose not to have reduced. DD is 14 and still likes to pull out her boxes and reminisce and hear the stories behind the stuff! A few things I just took pictures of them holding it, put the picture in their other scrapbook and tossed the original.

You have to keep telling yourself, I can't keep everything.

I had a section in the hallway that I would use for displaying drawings. As new ones came home those were replaced. The ones that were really special I kept and they are stored in a rubbermaid bin in the basement. Only one bin allowed.

My girls are teens. I have a few ornaments that they've made over the years. In my car is a little flower my oldest made a camp one summer about 8 years ago, I moved it from my old car to my new one. There's a plaque my youngest made 4 years ago hanging in my livingroom.

You can always take a picture of the item. Make a special photo album, put the pictures on the computer as screen savers, or get a digital photo frame.

I only save the really special things and take photos of the others and make it into a photo book later on. keeps things neater.

I usually save a few things per school year. Unless it's something really cute or special, it goes in the trash the same day he brings it home. My daughter is in 1st grade and she doesn't have as much art as she did in preschool, but she brings home stories she wrote and some of them are just SO funny and creative, I just have to keep them. I have a file for each of them that I keep their stuff in

Answer: forever and if they fall apart leave it in your heart!

With the seasonal stuff they make I laminate and then store with my seasonal decorations and put out each year. With everyday stuff we hang things on my daughter's door and closet doors...some things when they come home I will ask if she wants to send to her aunt or uncle out of state...this helps get out of the house and then they eventually throw it away. I love the shutterfly book idea!
We have even made decoupaged coasters for the grandparents out of large painting she has done. That was a huge hit. Anything we decide to keep is put in a large scrapbook container.

lol I still have artwork in an art folder in my basement from my daughter from 15-20 years ago.

I was going to say I only save the ones I feel are special but you seem to think they all are special.

Maybe try looking at them as five years from now will I want to be able to physically touch this look at this if not take a picture of it with perhaps a placard under it describing its creation. Pictures take up very little space compared to art work.

You can't keep them all, my mom did, it was insane. Of the billion or so she kept there was maybe a handful that meant anything to anyone when we were adults.

I save our son's artwork/projects all year in a accoridion file by month then do a scrapbook of our favorite things. It is a great way for us to remember the year and also see his progress. It is one of our favorite Summer projects. I started it in pre-school and now that he his in Kindergarten he doesn't do as many "projects" but the stuff that comes home is still worth keeping.

Have fun with it!

Similar to Jennifer P, I have a bulletin board for each of my kids that their artwork goes up on until full, pic taken, and then trashed. I keep anything that has a photo of them or that they made with a body part (handprint, fingerprint, toes, feet, etc.). If there's a 3D piece or just something fabulous, I send it to a family member that isn't local.

I put my girls art work up on our 'gallery wall.' (A small wall in our kitchen in our old house, kitchen door in our new one.) Then when it is full, I take a picture and take everything down. If there is something really special to one of them or one I really like I keep it in a large art portfolio (which I keep behind my china closet!) All the rest goes. We keep the pictures in cheap dollar albums so the girls (or me) can look back at all of their masterpieces. :)

I used to feel the same way. I would try to save everything!

Now I just pick the ones that are special to me, like their hand prints or something they worked really hard on. The rest of the stuff, and brace yourself, I chuck it. There was a point I was trying to save it all, but it was getting to be too much. Everywhere I looked there was some sort of drawing from my daughter. I used to feel bad, but after talking to another mom with older kids I figured it wouldn't be a crime to get rid of some of it.

Now that my daughter is in Kindergarten, she brings home something every single day. I would say at least five pieces of paper. I rarely save any of it. I do save her "morning workbooks" because I would like to look at her progress over the course of the school year, but I'll probably get rid of those at the end of the school year.

I scan them too. I keep the especially great or sentimental ones, but scan the rest. I had a photo book of his artwork printed for my mom one year as a mother's day gift. She loved it. It's her coffee table book. ANd my son loves that he has a "real" book. I also have frames in our dining room. We switch out the artwork for display there too.

I take a picture and include them in his photo albums. So far, there have been two very special items that I put in his yearly 'time capsule' (just a plastic air tight, lidded, container that I put all of the memorabilia for the year).

Hobby Lobby (and I'm sure other stores have them too) have some great art storage portfolios - my mom saved our stuff in those. But back then we didn't have as many tools/resources/creations as kids seem to have these days.

Good luck!

When you have too many works of art, you can take digital photos of them and make a photobook (Snapfish, Walgreens, CVS, etc.....)

I hang the most current stuff my son brings home from preschool in the kitchen, when it's time to take it down and hang up new stuff - I put each piece inside one of those plastic paper protectors and then into a large 3 ring binder, it's been working out well. It sits on a bookshelf and he likes to flip through it and show people.

I can honestly say with my two older boys, 25 and 16, I have bins full of stuff from them as small children. I kept a lot! And saving a few here and there adds up! When the triplets came along and had artwork up the ying yang I made a decision. They could save one per week and after that they were tossed out. The only things I really save are things from holidays that are special with their photo or hand print or the like. After seeing howing much stuff I have from the big boys I can't imagine how much stuff I'd have from the triplets and where in the world would I store it all, lol. Take pictures of them and put them on disk. That will save a lot more space!

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets