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When fridge is too small for your kids’ art
The kids have started school again, and pretty soon, parents will be faced with a problem: what to do with all of their kids’ art projects. During the preschool years, the sheer number of paintings and drawings is staggering. As the kids get older, there are fewer art projects; still each one is special, and deserves recognition.
Before I go on, let me give you my permission not to save every single piece that comes home. If you do, you will quickly be inundated. Some can be displayed temporarily on the refrigerator or bulletin board, and then surreptitiously sent to the recycle bin. My sister-in-law, a preschool teacher, will tell you that for young children, the joy lies in the process of creating, not so much in the final product. This means that they will be more excited about the act of painting rather than the finished painting itself. So, by all means, ask them about their artwork, celebrate it, display it, and then take it down to make room for the next masterpiece.
In my house, I am selective about what I save. I keep writing samples, such as stories and essays, and I keep meaningful pieces of art: ones that show my kids’ abilities, and ones I know they truly made themselves. I also keep ones I particularly like and ones my kids particularly like, and those two are not always the same things. Always label them with your child’s name and date — you think you will remember, but you won’t.
Below are some ideas for ways to display and preserve your children’s art:
- Hang a clothesline in their bedroom, mudroom, family room, kitchen or laundry room on which you can easily attach several pieces of art with clothespins. For every new piece that goes on the clothesline, one piece comes off. This will keep the display fresh and tidy. You could also use a large magnet board.
- Take digital photographs of special pieces and compile them onto a CD. You’ll always have them, and they’ll take up a lot less space.
- Photograph your child next to several pieces of his art. Create a scrapbook with these photos.
- Turn the digital photographs into a 12-month calendar to give as gifts to family members. You could also have these photos printed on coffee mugs, puzzles, mouse pads and T-shirts.
- Create placemats by having artwork laminated.
- Use artwork as gift wrap.
- Purchase inexpensive frames and arrange an “art gallery” in a hallway. Select frames that make it easy to take the art in and out so you can have a constantly rotating collection.
- Select a few favorites and have them professionally framed to display in more prominent locations in your home. In my home there is a black and white drawing my daughter made that looks like anything I might buy at an art gallery.
- Investigate www.theartblossom.com, a service that will turn your child’s artwork into museum quality prints.
This article first appeared in Alameda Newspaper
Group papers on Sept. 15, 2007.
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back to the list of decorating columns.
All articles copyright 2003-2008 Anna
Jacoby.
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