Saving and Storing School/art Projects

You are wise to get a plan together now because, as you said, there is much more to come.

This is what I've done and it works very well for me. I have 4 kids so I got a 4-drawer file cabinet.

At the beginning of each school year, I label a folder for Sept-Aug. I drop in what I really need to keep; report cards, art projects, swimming lesson certificates, etc. When choosing which art projects and school papers to keep, I look for the ones that showed either their creativity or an example of something new that their learning. I throw art projects that are the "cut on the line and glue together" types. I keep papers that showed how they wrote their name at that point, their first addition paper, etc. Consider what to keep by what value they will put on it in 20 years when they're looking back.

Here is an "I wish I would have" idea: each year, have them (or you, if they're too young) fill out a paper with their name, a list of their friends, what they like to do for fun, their favorite color, game, sport, TV show, etc. Then drop it in their folder for the year.

Hi L.,

We use new, unused large pizza boxes that we bought from a local pizza place. At the end of the school year the kids choose which projects they want to save (I can choose a few as well) and the rule is that they must all fit in the box. I write on the edge of each box the child's name and grade during which the project was created and the boxes stack nicely on a storage shelf in our attic. We have a third grader, one starting kindergarten next year and a 2 yr old. This system has been working pretty well for us. Good lyck with the organizing!

Even though my daughter is only 20 months old I'm already saving some of her first art works. I am scanning them and turning them into a hardbound book! My friends are doing the same with their children's school art. The art that isn't scan-able such as clay statues, they are taking pictures of and putting the picture into the book. One book of artwork for each year. Scanning the art and putting them into a hardbound book "showcases" their artwork and makes it more special than just a picture of it. If you want more info on how to turn the school art into a hardbound book you can visit http://www.frommemoriestobooks.com or just email me and I'll be happy to help! :)

Whenever the kids brought home projects and it was time to change out to the newest projects, we asked the kids what they wanted us to do with their work.

We had a storage box for each of them and each of them had their own file drawer.

Now they are 18 & 21. For the projects they kept from highschool of course went into portfolios. Our daughter is an amazing photographer, so we even have her things framed and on the walls.

J.

L.,
My kids are still very young, but even still, I already have a plastic tub full of crafts from daycare. I recently met this woman (online)- and I hope to someday use her services...
http://www.artimusart.com
M.

Isn't it amazing how much paper kids bring home?! I started scanning all paper projects and saving them on my computer. I have date files (by year) and don't get too specific about titles or more specific dates. Then, for those that are holiday related that I might want to use for decorations or others that are special to me, I put them in a 12x12 scrapbooking paper organizer.

I use the scanned in art for many things: I make homemade cards, gift tages, or backgrounds when I do other projects.

Good luck on your project - it feels so good once you have gotten organized!!

What i have learned to do is if you have a digital camera start taking pictures of everything. Keep the art works that mean the most to you no more than one tub per child. The mothers day cards, special occasions only.then i down load my daughters pictures to a disk. I print out a few and have the kids help me put them in a brag book to put on the coffee table for friends and family to see. At first i felt bad throwing out all the pretty pictures but space was more important. And picture disks are a lot easier to store away. Just remember to write on the disks what years and ages. I am having problems now remembering what year is what. But it has cut down almost a whole closet full of papers. Also a scrapbooker i hope this helps.

I have 2 kids and can relate! Check out www.gathersortstore.com. Their kits include everything you need to gather, sort and store your loose papers and go beyond just kids' stuff: organize recipes, articles and documents of any kind. The idea is to have book for each kid for each year. The books are easy to slip in and come in a few sizes. good luck!

I have the long plastic tubs that slide under the bed. During the school year I keep the papers in the filing cabinet. End of the school year we pull them out and pick a few art,writing,math a reports. Plus the pictures and year books to go in the plastic tubs. Inside each tub is a three ring binder with the special acid free plastic covers. This is for the new clippings, certificates, special pictures. The things I really don't want to fade.
Holiday decorations I put in with the regular decorations. They like seeing their work brought out every year. I still have an angel I color for my grandma from when I was a kid.
Interesting to see how others save items.
Good luck

Hey L.-

At our house, each of my children have a bulletin board in their room. At the top of each of them I put the month. They get to pin up their favorite projects up there. Then on the last day of the month they each get to pick one that we put in a special box to save. At the end of the year I make a scrapbook full of pictures of them, their projects, and other important things in their life for the past year. So far this is going really well!! I give the kids this for their easter present every year! They keep them on their book shelves in their rooms!

Try www.ShareMyKidsArt.com - I love this website! It's free and lets you store and organize your children's art. The thing I like it about the most is it has these little buttons so that you can email or upload to your facebook wall pieces of art; this is really nice for us because we live in California and my parents live in Hawaii and my wife's parents live in NY. If one of our children create something we want to share with the grandparents, we simple press a button.

The only thing is you need to scan or photograph the art, which seems like a hassle but it's actually fairly easy. Good luck!

As some other moms have said making books of all the artwork will be a great way of remember the artwork without cluttering the storage area. You could have the book specially made at various locations or if you are up to scanning/printing everything out you can put them in a portfolio book yourself. If you are really into keeping things nice I would suggest getting paper that is acid free, or meant to be kept a life time. Regular copy/printer paper will fade in a few years leaving you with blah colors.

I would keep any special art work that you and/or your child love. My mom has framed many art work pieces that my brothers or I have done. I am now an artist so my mom loves to compare what I did in first grade to things I have done twenty years later. If you do frame or even keep the art projects put them in a tight container that is acid free, it will make a difference down the road otherwise the piece will become faded or start to fall apart.

I love the pizza box idea... but if you plan on really saving the art work for twenty years without falling apart or fading you will need to find an archival type box.

I haven't done this yet, but I read somewhere I take pictures of the art work, close so all you see is the art, then you can save the pictures to a CD. Saves lots of space too. One thing I have done is: one of the peices of art my son brought home I liked so well that I framed it and hung it on the wall. Of course we can't do that to all of them but frame one a year is kind of fun.

I take pictures of my boys holding their artwork and then put it in a storybook. I put together a storybook for every year they're in school.

Please check out my website at www.MyPhotobookStory.com to see all the templates and products. The great thing is it is all online and 100% customizable.

Watch this 5min video to give you an idea of what we are about! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Irdqtq7mF6Y

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