The Art of Art: Storing and Displaying Children’s Artwork

artofartOh, the love-hate relationship I share with my children’s artwork. First of all, who doesn’t love a preschooler’s handprint??? There are those special paintings that just came together and are truly beautiful. There are the “special memory” art pieces that include a great story.  And then there’s the mostly ripped Batman coloring book with it’s lines-be-darned spewing of every crayon color in the box….and the finger painting with ¾ of the page blank and one small section, now sporting a hole because of the globs of paint….and the noodle-art that is missing approximately 73% of the noodles due to this humid air hating Elmer’s glue.

Art is tricky in that often the last piece you care to share with your 300 closets Facebook friends is the one that Little Artist herself just HAS to put up. There are other pieces you would sell your lung to keep forever. Here are a few ideas for how you can calm the clutter, create a space for keepsakes, and still make your budding Rembrandt happy.

 

Art DON’Ts {and practical do this instead options}

Don’t throw their art away…where they can easily find it, that is. Nothing will hurt your Child-Van Gogh like finding their precious work in the kitchen trashcan.

  • Instead: When you go through their backpack or after they finish a project at home, take a minute to review the piece; acknowledge it. Then, once there is a small pile, let them chose a few pieces to put up (see ideas for displaying art below). Then, subtly, take the rest out to the outside can.

Don’t keep everything they ever make. This is tempting, especially with your first (sorry, third child – you’ll be lucky if I even see your art). But as a woman who married someone whose mother kept every single item my husband ever created as a child, it gets to a ridiculous point. I think it’s so fun to see a few things that my husband or I did each year as a small child – especially a self-portrait or those funny “tell me about your mom” questionnaires – but the rest of the stuff just gets old and faded and your child’s future spouse will be forced to guiltily throw it away.

  • Instead: Think through it – is this really something my child will want as an adult? Also, see below about putting artwork into a photo book!

Don’t ask “What is it?”. To your kid, it is, most likely, wildly obvious that the red and blue blob on the page is Grandma in a field of bluebonnets.

  • Instead: Memorize this, parents: “Tell me about this!” This is my go-to, enthusiastic way to get information without the hurt feelings that mom couldn’t see what Boy-Picasso so painstakingly created.

Don’t over-sell their own art to them. Every picture they create is not, indeed “the best picture I’ve ever seen”. It’s just not. Kids don’t need to think their art is “perfect” or even necessarily exceptional, just that you value it because they made it. By starting children early with overindulged and exaggerated praise, you begin down the slippery slope of your child needing everything they do or create to be “the best”. When others don’t share your enthusiasm, or you’re just too busy with dinner to ooh-and-aw properly, the child feels like a failure.

  • Instead: Make a factual statement like, “That is really colorful!”, or comment on some aspect they did well, “I like how you colored inside the lines.” Try, “Wow, I can tell you worked hard on that!”, or “That’s so neat, I bet Grandma would love to put that up in her house.” These statements show your interest while remaining genuine and practical for a child who won’t be surrounded by teachers and coaches (and one day bosses) who constantly shower them with unending superlatives.

 

 

Displaying Art

 The next hurdle to cross is how to actually show-off beloved (whether by your or children), or store artwork. I picked the brains of my pals and have come up with a few ideas to calm the artwork mania.

 

bulletinboardartThe Good ol’ Bulletin Board: An oldie but a goodie, this tried-and-true option allows pictures and various other glitter infused gems to have their 15 minutes of fame as a display while remaining easy to manage. Put up, stick a pin in. Time to toss: pull the pin out and replace it. If the plain-Jane corkboard isn’t gelling with your decor, use spray glue and cover it with a favorite fabric, paint it, and/or get it framed!

TIPS:

–       Have a “One Up, One Down” rule or Number of Pieces Allowed limit to avoid the cluttered/over-stimulated look.

–       Don’t care to have it in your main living area? Let them put it up in his/her room!

 

 

bulletinart

Create an “Important Box”: Once kids reach school age, even if it’s just preschool, there are items to be saved for posterity. Grab a file folder box and label a hanging file for each year. This is a good place to keep a few small art pieces along with school/class pictures, and other documents you might want to look upon in the future. A file-folder size helps you to keep the amount (and size) of art kept to a minimum.

importantbox

framedart

Frame it: A friend of mine choses one piece of art per year to frame and put up on a large wall in her playroom. This is obviously more of a commitment as far as keeping up with it each year and paying for it to be framed, but it’s a nice way to display art while maintaining a certain level of décor. Another option is to add frames with special items like a child’s first pair of soccer shoes or a christening gown.

TIPS:

–       Not up for taking things to the framer each year? Get a frame without glass and glue a clothes pin or clip to it. Art can be interchanged easily while the frames remain constant.

–       Consider using the same color frame or mat for continuity since artwork is often colorful. This can lessen visual overload.

 frameart

 

Custom and Cute: Check out Etsy or the locally owned Custom Doodles for about a million ways that you can get a custom art hangers. Most of these are fairly small, take up little wall space, and can help organize and showcase individual children’s work.

customart

Keep it Simple (and Inexpensive) with a Clothesline: Your display doesn’t have to be fancy, and can even be free if you look around your house! For a less-formal option, or for something that can potentially hold a lot of art for those mamas who want to show it all, hang ‘line. There are premade options out there, but you can always do like I did at my last house by using a jute string, holding either side with simple push pins (and covering those with ribbon), and clothespins. Display, done – and free! I added wording with my die-cutting machine and sticky-backed vinyl, but it’s plenty cute without that addition.

clothesline

Make it a Book: Love the idea of remembering (almost) every piece of art brought home or created on your easel? Hate the idea of glitter working it’s way into the carpet under your display wall? Put it in a book! There are many options out there but one of the simplest I’ve found is Artkive. There is an app for smart phones, so you just use the phone probably already in your hand, take a picture and it’s stored in the app until you have enough to create a book. Any picture-book making site (think shuterfly, artifact uprising, etc.) can do this as well, just remember to snap the pictures each time your Child-Dali brings home a favorite.

 

Being a parent means wiping boogers, a mad rush to get to school every morning (shouldn’t this start to get easier at some point?? but I digress), and dealing with mounds of mostly marginal artwork. Happy Art Organizing, my friends.

Maggie
Although not a native Texan, Maggie has enjoyed getting to know the city of San Antonio with her husband, a native to San Antonio. If she were a bumper sticker type of person (which she vehemently is not) she might have one of those “I didn’t grow up in Texas, but I got here as soon a I could” stickers. Maggie enjoys staying home with her children and loves the daily calamity that is raising her son (born 2011) and daughter (born 2009) in Boerne. She would always chose outdoor activities over indoor, sweatpants over dresses, crafting over TV, and cupcakes over… anything. It feels like her life has been full of “learning experiences”, and Maggie loves to share about having a micro-preemie in the NICU, her experiences as an adoptee and a heart patient, and about her family’s experiences with adopting a child on her blog Mondays with Maggie. Life is an adventure and she’s thankful to have the perfect amount of OCD and ADHD to keep up (most days).