I guess this is one of the most common problems parents of young kids encounter – no matter how proud we are of them for expressing their creativity through arts and crafts, sometimes it’s just too difficult to find a spot for all the artwork they make. So how do you preserve your child’s artwork?
We used to place everything on the fridge but now there are so many collages, drawings and other crafts made by our kids we would have to buy 10 more fridges to continue this practice.
If you are in the same position, here are some ideas on how to give your kids’ artwork a new purpose.
7 ways to preserve your child’s artwork
Designate a special exhibition space in your home
If you have some spare space which you don’t use, the chances are that this space doesn’t look too representative. Maybe you can put your kids’ artwork into frames and give this room a new glow. If you don’t have any special room to use in these purposes, you can turn any other space in your home into a museum. Your kids’ room can suddenly become home to a unique exhibition, your living room can additionally impress the guests with your children’s creativity, your kitchen can look like a little restaurant with all that artwork on the walls.
Decorate your workplace
Why would you stop with your home? Take some of your favorite artwork made by your children to your office. Not only that it can refresh your workspace – it can also bring in some positive emotions into that space, and alleviate your stress at work. You will probably feel more comfortable surrounded by your children’s creative outcomes.
Use the artwork as holiday cards or gifts
I don’t know about you but I always prefer giving and getting handmade cards over generic cards people buy. It’s never about the quality of the card but about the efforts someone has invested in them. So, your child’s collage can become someone’s birthday card or Christmas card – and it could fascinate your dear people much more than a regular printed card. When it comes to other craft items, you can use them as holiday gifts. It is not only economically efficient but also brings some warmth and emotional value.
Enter some competitions
Maybe your little angel is the next great artist who will exhibit at Tate Modern one day. But in order to help your child to develop their artistic skills and get discovered, you need to find some nice competitions and participate. Besides the commonly organized school competitions, there are many thematic competitions you will easily find online, with some of them being international and promising some amazing awards.
Host a community charity action
Team up with other parents, choose a cause you will fight for and find a public space in your community which you could use. Gather the artwork made by your kids and sell them to the visitors in order to collect money you will donate. Such an action is more than just finding a purpose to your kids’ artwork – this is something that could teach them how to use their skills in order to make a change in society. The more parents and kids join your charity action – the better.
Make an album
It is much easier to gather your kids’ arts and crafts and store them in a box – but that’s not really the best way to preserve them. And preserving them is essential – just imagine how emotional it will be for them when they see their drawings in 10 or 20 or 30 years. So, one of the ways to do it is to get a few photo albums and keep your child’s collections in one place, protected from the dust and other potential problems. Maybe you will also want to write down the dates under the artworks.
Digitalize the artwork
Many of the drawings or even collages can be saved digitally as well, depending on the materials your child used. Whether you will keep the originals or no, it is great if you have them backed up on your hard drive. You don’t need any special tech for this – a regular scanner will do the work. If you don’t have one, you can visit a copy place where these services can be done for pretty decent prices.
Don’t just toss it
Finally, whichever idea you choose, it is most important to keep your children’s creative work. Today it maybe seems like a messy pile but in years or decades from now, they will make a great memory.
What tricks do you use to preserve your child’s artwork? Feel free to share them with us in the comments.
Leave a Reply