We’ve all been there. Your sweet little cherub pulls out the newest piece of prized art work and holds it in their grubby little hands waiting for you to admire it. Then if you are like me, you stumble over yourself: 1. trying to figure out what in the heck it is, and 2. filling their bucket with adjectives to describe how wonderful it is. They walk away, and you are left holding the 500th drawing of the dog running through a forest while riding on a unicorn.
If you’ve ever felt the wrath of an 8 year old after she finds her drawing in the trash, this list is for you!
Here are eight great (and two sub par) ideas you can do with your child’s artwork.
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Create an Art Book
Take a picture of each piece of art when it comes home. Have your child hold the artwork or capture a close up. Upload it to Shutterfly. At the end of the school year, create a book of artwork! Immortalized forever! (In a manageable 8×8 book that can go on a shelf.)
2. Frame it
Pull the glass and backing off a large 16×20 frame that matches your home decor. As art begins to come in, it can live eternally in the frame! Or, at the end of the week, let your child sift through all the art and pick their favorite to be the “Art of the Week” and live in the frame the following week! You can also just have it framed and convince your friends that you are an art collector!
3. Plaster it all over your fridge
Do this with no regard for your beautiful decor. Hope that your fridge doesn’t fold under the weight of all the glued macaroni.
4. Mail it
Share the love, grandparents would love to have it on their walls. They like to receive mail and what better way to share love, then with a handwritten note and beautiful art!
5. File it
Start a file box for each year. When artwork comes home, decide if it’s box worthy, and file it away. This makes for a great scrapbook collection for graduation.
6. Wrap it
Use the art as wrapping paper for presents. Sounds silly, but throw some twine around it and you will never buy wrapping paper again, Plus, you are recycling! Saving the world one art project at a time!
7. Gift it
Frame the artwork, and give it to other people! Especially when the kids are young it will make them feel like a real life artist!
8. Trash it
Just throw it away, cross your fingers your child won’t see it in the trash and run away.
9. Hang it
If you’re blessed with a playroom, art room, or even your child’s own bedroom, you can use it as wallpaper. Clip it to a fishing line, get fancy with a shower curtain rod and ribbon, or just tape it up.
10. Box it
Talking with your child about the importance of decluttering and how setting stuff boundaries is always good. Allowing them to process through what is truly important, and what they can let go of, is a great lesson to learn on something as easy as art work.
Hopefully at least one of these ideas will get you out from the bottom of an artwork pile. Enjoy the memories!
