Do you save your child's artwork?

[TBGOES2DISNEY]

My dd produces a TON of artwork between school stuff and doing stuff on her own. I thought I could create an art portfolio on our computer by scanning stuff or taking pictures so we would always keep it in that sense. Then I thought we could go through the actual art papers and decide which ones to keep the originals of. This will be a little hard for me to do, but even harder for dd, I think.

What do you do? TIA!

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

I just put the artwork and papers in boxes with the dates on them. I have tons already and DS is only 9 and DD will just start pre-school this September.

I save almost all of the artwork but just some of the schoolwork. I'm not sure what I'll do with them but I couldn't bear to throw them away.

 

[daisyduck123]

My DH owns a frame store & we have MUCH of the kids' artwork framed...so much in fact, that a lot of it is not on display in the house right now, but is stacked in a corner of our bedroom.

Much of what doesn't get framed has been tossed!

 

[sskem96]

I take digital pictures of the special things so we can always have them made into pics if we want. I keep a couple really special things in their memory box, but I throw most of it away. If I saved it all, I would have to buy a whole house just to store it. I display it for a couple weeks, then just keep throwing out the old and hanging up the new as they bring more home.

 

[ThreeMusketeers]

We only keep the really big projects, or the things that she worked extra hard on.
We were keeping everything until she started school, but now its just too much stuff, she comes home with a pile of things every night that i would love to keep. I do make scrapbooks out of the pictures she draws, and put the projects into a big box, for looking later. We also rotate a few extra good paintings/drawings through out frames in our bedroom, and one in the kitchen. I love kid artwork, i think its great! And she gets a real kick out of the fact that we think its special enough to frame! =)

 

[earthfaries]

My dd produces a TON of artwork between school stuff and doing stuff on her own. I thought I could create an art portfolio on our computer by scanning stuff or taking pictures so we would always keep it in that sense. Then I thought we could go through the actual art papers and decide which ones to keep the originals of. This will be a little hard for me to do, but even harder for dd, I think.

What do you do? TIA!

I don't have the heart to throw it away. My kids, esp. my daughter loves to color and draw and would be broken hearted if I tossed it.
I buy those clear portfolio sleeves and put her pics in there. One on each side. Then put it in a big three ring binder. It works great. Keeps them safe and she can flip through it and enjoy her artwork anytime she wants. I also bought a big hardback book filled with like 200 sheets of white card stock paper for her to draw in at the arts and craft store. It was $20.00 but so worth it. You just have one big book of her artwork!

 

[Starr W.]

We get elementary artwork at the end of the year, comes home in this Huge folder(about 1 ydx1yd). I will admit this year(eldest is a 4th grader) we picked out some pictures and hung them up and threw the rest away. But I still have K-3 folders stuffed in a closet somewhere.

We also have an opportunity to buy items with one of the kids artwork on. I have a book bag, some blank notes and a trivet. He didn't like the picture the teacher picked this year so he didn't want me to buy anything.

 

[Amirah95]

I save my DD11's artwork inside of a box throughout the year and I only keep a select few. I keep all of her school certificates, extracurricular certificates and class awards though. I have it in a nice size picture box I got from Michael's when she was in daycare...it started with hand prints from dipping her hands in finger paints. I can't let it go!

 

[alloyd1170]

I take pictures of the projects and save them on a cd for backup. I save the really special ones, and some that are too vast to photograph (ie nursery rhyme book).

 

[design_mom]

We do just what you're suggesting. We take the best-of-the-best and scan it. We've put them together and ordered a photo book of DS's artwork: the preschool years. It doesn't take up much space and keeps all the pieces nice and tidy. We're now building DS's Artwork: the grade-school years.

We keep the ones that catch our fancy for one reason or another, but we don't keep everything.

 

[huntersmom]

I also have a ton of artwork and use it to decorate the walls of my garage! It allowes me to display almost all of it ( i just use tape) and really makes the garage look so much nicer! We have had garage sales the past two years and I have gotten TONS of compliments from people! When the walls get full, I take the oldest piece down and just replace with a newer one.

 

[a1tinkfans]

I have a large plastic container filled with my childs art work since BEFORE preschool, LOL! Just love it!
I have also framed several pieces and they hang thru-out our home. Some of the pieces are AMAZING. He enjoys art and must've inherited the "gene" from his great grandparents who were both talented painters in their own right.
I say, you can't save everything, but those that you all enjoy most can easily be saved and enjoyed!

 

[alikat99]

My oldest just finished preschool and my youngest is just starting. I have everything from the year in a box and I go through it at the end of the year. I keep only certain things, and only a few, but most definitely anything with their hand, finger or foot prints on them, and anything with their picture. The rest, I keep some special ones, then the rest I send to grandma and let her pick what she wants to keep. Then, I tell her to do what she wants with them. I figure that at least she gets to keep some of her granddaughter's artwork too.

 

[me again]

I save a lot of my children's art work. Their art class at school is simply excellent, they come home with so many lovely projects, it would be a crime to throw them away.

I have some of them framed and displayed around the house. For Mother's Day I asked for a gift certificate from Michaels, then waited for a sale on framing to get my daughter's picture framed. Its quite large but doesn't fit any standard poster frame. I had it framed in a beautiful wood frame with gold and green speckles, matches the picture and our living room perfectly.

I did suggest to the art teacher that he consider having the kids make projects on standard frame size, so we could frame it more easily and cheaper. He seemed rather surprised (and pleased) that we frame a lot of their art work. After all, they're original art works!

 

[Grendalynn]

We save bits and pieces of the work. Our oldest is in school - going into 3rd grade... his 2 younger brothers are not yet in school. From what DS8 has brought home so far, we would need a storage trailer to save all of it - so we save bits and pieces throughout each year. We will do the same with the other 2 as they grow...

 

[me again]

I use the "big box" method. Since pre-school, I've saved items that I promis myself I will put in a scrapbook, scan, make into a book, do somehting with them...when I have the time. Well, that box has turned into several boxes, still nothing done with them. I figure it can be my project when I'm an old lady in the retirement home!

 

[PollyannaMom]

Holiday/seasonal stuff on the cabinet doors, some special things in frames, or taped on the wall of my craft room or the door to Dad's den.

Most goes on the fridge - when the stacks get too heavy for the magnetic clips, I weed out and put the keepers (best school papers, big leaps forward in drawing, etc.) in the big pastic art folder/box. The rest go on top of the fridge until I'm sure he doesn't miss them, THEN they get tossed at a time when he won't see them in the garbage.

I've also been know to take pictures of stuff too bulky to save.

 

[SqueakyMouse]

I've got boxes of "stuff" from the kids that I've been meaning to scan.

 

[MelAnderson]

I display it for a while and then I toss it. It just gets to be too much! I do like the idea of scaning though so I might have to try it the next time.

 

[bopper]

I save a bunch of them in a pile, and then WHEN THEY ARE NOT LOOKING, pick out one or two of the best and save those AND THROW OUT THE REST BEING CAREFUL TO HIDE THEM SO YOU DON'T SEE THEM WHEN YOU OPEN THE GARBAGE CAN.