Kids art and papers from school

[ashbradnmom]

I have kept quite a bit of my kids art work and papers from school. Of course they are in boxes, but there has to be a better way. What do you do with your kids stuff. I am thinking about hanging some of the artwork but what about the rest??
TIA

 

[JESW]

Take pictures of them all and then put the pictures in a scrapbook or photo album. Frame some and hang if you want. Not sure how old your kids are, but all that paper work adds up over the years and before you know it you will be swimming in it all!

Jill

 

[remyandhollandsmommy]

I know it sounds kinda dumb but rather than be OVERRUN with papers I started taking a quick picture of them with the digital camera..when I have enough I burn a cd and label it with the year and child name lol..saves WAY more space and papers don't hold up forever. Of course I do save the best of the lot in the cedar chest.

 

[SaraJayne]

I have kept quite a bit of my kids art work and papers from school. Of course they are in boxes, but there has to be a better way. What do you do with your kids stuff. I am thinking about hanging some of the artwork but what about the rest??
TIA

Here, about 98% of it gets recycled. It hangs on the fridge for awhile and then when a new project comes along to replace it, it goes in recycling.

 

[OceanAnnie]

I know it sounds kinda dumb but rather than be OVERRUN with papers I started taking a quick picture of them with the digital camera..when I have enough I burn a cd and label it with the year and child name lol..saves WAY more space and papers don't hold up forever. Of course I do save the best of the lot in the cedar chest.

I do the same thing. I save just the best and cutest. Snap a photo of the rest! I really need to go back over all the papers before I began doing this. The preschool and K years are so hard to get rid of stuff, but if I have a picture it takes the sting out of it.

 

[vettechick99]

OneStepAhead has a cute folder that has years on it. So you save just a few from that year (the best of the best) and store the whole thing on a shelf somewhere. I wish my mom had saved my stuff...I have nothing from when I was a kid!

 

[clovergirl5]

I save all dc stuff. From school work to artwork to report cards to awards. I know Im insane but I just can't throw it away. I too, don't have anything from my school years, nothing. I store everything in plastic bins with covers.
I fill 1 large bin/school year with all 4 kids stuff. Hey, when they get older, they can look through their preschool stuff

 

[taximomfor4]

we display the best on the fridge for a while, then throw them away. VERY few get put in a box to keep. We have "stuff" all around, and just have so little storage space that we can't keep it. Anyway, neither dh nor I have very much from our schooldays...and we don't miss it a bit.

 

[RangerPooh]

I've been trying to keep the best items in a box or folder, others arerecycled, some get sent to great grandma, and a few have been put in frames. With the holidays coming you could use some as "giftwrap", it has more meaning and is very thoughtful.

 

[diznygirl]

I take digital pictures or scan, and then make photo books of artwork for the year along with photos from school. Like some previous posters, I save some of the best stuff from year to year.

 

[monkeybug]

I read a tip somewhere to have the child choose their favs. (or you can choose for them) and then at the end of the year put them in that years backpack and hang it in a closet. That's what we do now! I have a box that I keep it in during the school year and at the end of the year I let my daughter go through it and choose what to keep. It's nice having it hanging up and off the floor for now (might change when I have 6 backpacks hanging up)

 

[charming23]

My mom has a medium sized rubbermaid container that she calls the "Best of Elizabeth". It has what she considered to be the best projects I made and then got rid of all the others by recyling them.

 

[Luv Bunnies]

Papers get reviewed (OK look you only missed one!) and then tossed right away. Small art projects usually get tossed unless my son really wants to keep it. Larger projects that took a long time get saved in a plastic bin. I will say that probably 97% of things get tossed. Very few get saved for very long. There's just too much of it.

 

[taximomfor4]

I read a tip somewhere to have the child choose their favs. (or you can choose for them) and then at the end of the year put them in that years backpack and hang it in a closet. That's what we do now! I have a box that I keep it in during the school year and at the end of the year I let my daughter go through it and choose what to keep. It's nice having it hanging up and off the floor for now (might change when I have 6 backpacks hanging up)

cute idea, but 6 yrs of elementary school x 4 kids= 24 backpacks!! We don't have a single large walkin closet in our entire house. And that isn't including preschool!! Keeping a journal or art project per year will have to do for us.

 

[MariDisney]

I toss almost everything. DD is in 5th grade. When she brought home drawings, etc. I would hang them around before tossing. Now, things get looked at and reviewed with her and then tossed. I don't even keep report cards. I just don't see the need. DH and I both have nothing from our school days except an ornament or two we made, and neither of us cares at all, so...

 

[puffkin]

I keep VERY little. Just the very very best and things he is very proud of. My mom kept boxes of our stuff and when they moved a few years ago it got tossed in the dumpster with the other house junk. I never really felt a need to look back at that stuff. She had a few things that were the best of the best that she had pulled out and stored in her file cabinet, but that was about it. Everything else was thrown.

 

[ashbradnmom]

Thanks for all of your input. Anyone else out there???

 

[MiniGirl]

I guess I'm not very sentimental, but I tossed most of it. I didn't even take pics first. I kept report cards and very few art projects and a few things that touched my heart -- like My Daddy is My Hero paper, stuff like that.

My mom kept a lot of things that my brothers and I did growing up. After her death, it all got tossed. It didn't mean anything to any of us.

However, now that we are homeschooling I am keeping more. Only because I need to in case the district asks to see our school work. Otherwise, that's all get tossed, too.

 

[popedisney]

My DS2 is my only child so right now we save everything! I made an "art gallery" in an empty hallway. I got some cheap black picture frames from Michaels....3 different sizes...and placed them on the wall. I filled those up with my favorites....but now I don't want to replace them! I love the idea of the art photobook...I will probably do that when I get too many. I am looking into purchasing some art cabinets...they are called lil' davinchi art cabinets. They are precious. They look like picture frames but for art work and they hold 50 pieces...so when you are ready to add, it opens up like a cabinet and you just put in on top of the old. This way you still have them. Again, perfect until you reach the 50 limit! They do have different colors and sizes and are reasonably priced.

 

[clovergirl5]

The giftwrap idea is a good one!

I also tape artwork to the inside and outside of the utility door from the house to the garage. You see the artwork whenever you come or go