Easy Ways to Manage that Pile of Artwork and School Papers | by Hesperia Family Photographer
Okay, truth time. How many pieces of paper from school and artwork masterpieces are sitting on the kitchen table right now? I’ll go first. Seven, and I have two kids in high school.
Now, how many more pieces are crammed in the backpack that hasn’t been cleaned out since December?
If you are feeling a tad guilty, don’t! We’ve all been there.
You don’t want to throw anything away… but you also don’t want to live in a house where every surface is covered in glittery construction paper and papers from school.
The good news is you don’t have to keep everything to prove that you care about it. There’s a way to honor your kids’ creativity without turning your home into an art storage unit.
I want to share a few simple, low-stress systems that actually work.
I have high school-aged kids and just found the band schedule in a stack of papers on my dresser. I had to clean off the kitchen table back around Christmas, and I guess that’s where I put that stack. Ha!
So, don’t think it gets better as they get older.
The One-Box System
This is a super simple method I use, and it works.
I always saved any large shoe box, the kind you buy a pair of tall boots in. They stack nicely and have a lid, and are sturdy as well. And, bonus, as a mom, you need to get yourself a new pair of boots because you need that huge box! You’re welcome.
Anyway, designate one plastic bin, box, or large folder for each child. Those huge Ziploc bags work, too.
That’s their art and schoolwork keeper for the entire year. Or childhood!
When something special comes home, it goes on the fridge or gets displayed for a little while. Then, when something new comes home, the old piece either goes into the magic box or gets recycled. Or, hand it off to grandma. ;)
At the end of each school year, sit down with each child and go through the box together. Let THEM pick their top 5-10 favorites! Those are the keepers.
As far as the rest of them… no guilt because you’ve already enjoyed it, displayed it, and appreciated it. It did its job. You can release the art, and as Elsa says, let it go.
This also teaches your kids something valuable. Not everything needs to be saved forever. Sometimes you make something, you love it, and then you move on. That’s a little lesson hidden under a mountain of finger paintings.
As my kids grew older, I started to hang their awards on a cabinet during the year. Then, during summer or the beginning of the next year, I’d take them down. My 2 younger ones came home every month with some award or another.
I would only keep the big projects or things that really mattered as they entered middle school. That being said, I still kept a few random doodles from a couple of kids who loved drawing.
To the Parents Who Feel Guilty Tossing Anything Away
Before a piece of art heads out for the trash truck, take a quick photo of it. You can even have your kid hold it up so you capture them with their magical creation at that age. If you want, you can keep a file in your phone or on the cloud of all the artwork that gets tossed. Easy to reference later on.
Now you’ve saved the memory without the clutter.
At the end of the year, you’ll have a healthy-sized visual record of everything they made, and it takes up zero space in your home. Huzzah!
Some families turn these into a photo book using a service like Chatbooks or Shutterfly. No, I’m not sponsored, although I’ve tried because I do mention them often. Ha
Imagine one slim book per year with all of your kid’s best artwork, their handwriting samples, and a few school photos mixed in. Fun, right?
That’s something they’ll actually look through when they’re older. And, it’s way more meaningful than a garbage bag full of crumpled worksheets in the attic.
My girl kids have looked through their artwork. Not all the time, but we see the boot boxes when we clean the shed. It’s fun, and we always share some good laughs.
Things That are Actually Worth Saving
Not everything your kid brings home needs to be saved for eternity. But some things are worth holding onto.
Things worth keeping:
Handprint art
Self-portraits from different ages
Anything with handwriting when they first learned to write
Birthday cards they made for you
Any piece of work they are genuinely proud of and keep talking about
Big artwork or science projects: for instance, in California, we always do a mission project. I’ve kept all my kids’ missions except the one where my daughter made it out of sugar cubes. Because… bugs and rodents are real. We took photos of it, though.
Things you say goodbye to:
Worksheets
Spelling tests (you can keep one from first grade)
Math because… It’s math. Exception: they finally got 100% after a whole year of practicing.
Coloring pages from a packet
Anything that’s mass-produced or templated
The thirteen identical drawings of a farm that your kid made in one week
Your kids won’t remember every single thing they made. But they will remember that you cared enough to save the ones that mattered.
My daughter draws every day, and she has a drawing journal. When she eventually goes off to college, that journal will go into the box. I want her to look back at it years from now and smile. It’s something very meaningful to her.
Let’s all say it together: “It feels bad to toss something your kid made for you.”
Even if it’s a crumpled piece of paper with two scribble marks and a ripped corner, there’s still a little voice that says, “But he made this.”
Appreciating something doesn’t mean you need to keep it forever. You can love a moment and let the physical evidence go.
The memory stays.
It helps to remember that your kids are watching how you handle stuff.
Teaching them that we can enjoy things without hoarding them, and creating is about the process and not only the product; these are lessons that will serve them long after elementary school.
I, myself, am the opposite of a hoarder. I threw and throw everything away. I do not like kids' clutter. However, my adult kids have come to me asking about specific toys I donated. You know the ones they didn’t touch for a year and then suddenly come back asking where their red firetruck went. Face palm.
Oh, and don’t worry, they’ll let you know you ruined their childhood because of it. It’s best to just shrug and move on. Lol!!
Display it Like it Matters (because it does, to them)
I think a lot of parents overlook this. The way you display your kid’s art sends them a message about how much you value it and them.
You don’t need to frame everything. But picking one or two favorites and giving them a space and some time to be displayed makes those pieces feel special.
Simple ways to do this:
Hang clipboards on the wall. One for each child. Swap out the art whenever something new comes home. It looks clean, it’s quick, and your kids can even do the swapping themselves.
Use a digital frame. Load it up with photos of their artwork and let it rotate through. This is especially great if you’re running out of wall space. Get one for grandma, too; she’ll love it, especially if she lives far away.
Create a gallery wall in their room or a hallway. Frame five or six of their best pieces and treat it like a real art gallery. Kids lose their minds when they see their work displayed as though it belongs in a museum.
Make a collage wall. We have a weird 2-foot-wide wall near the bathroom, and we would collage their art and awards on that wall. They could see it every day, along with everyone else who walked to the bathroom. Sounds silly, but it was nice, and they felt valued.
The point is to make them feel proud of what they’ve created, even if you’re only keeping a portion of what comes home.
A great segway and time to toot my own photography horn.
This is why I’m passionate about printing large portraits for the home. The kids love seeing their photos just like they love seeing their own masterpieces. It’s special, and they feel validated. They feel seen, not dismissed. And, that my friend, is huge!
If you’re ready to book a photo session, click below.
Let’s take a quick walk down memory lane:
I remember giving my mom a handmade card at a young age, maybe 7 or 8. She told me she was disappointed and not sure why I didn’t ask my dad to take me to buy a card instead.
Fast forward to her next birthday. I asked my dad to take me to buy her a card. We went to Long’s drugstore and bought a card with Mickey Mouse on it, which was red. Her response included her asking why I didn’t have him buy her a gift instead of only a card.
From that experience, I learned that she’ll never be happy, no matter what. But it also taught me to be thankful for everything.
I still think about that moment and have always made sure to love and adore anything my kids made for me! Even if it was a simple clown face, they drew at school because they finished their work early.
You can pick any of the methods above and try it out for the rest of the school year. You might be surprised how much lighter it feels to have a plan instead of a pile!
It was a game-changer for me to have a designated space for art from my four children.
Thanks for reading, and happy organizing.
Want to capture your family’s everyday moments (the ones worth framing for real)? Click here to learn more about my Hesperia and High Desert area sessions!
Looking for more ways to display your photos at home? Read family blog posts
Cheers,
Annette
