We love all of the craft projects that our kids do, and we find it hard to part with most of their work. It seems like every little drawing or craft tells a story of a milestone that has been reached, a current interest, or their world-view at the time. However, as their finished crafts continue to pile up, there’s no denying that a little ‘filtering’ needs to be done. We asked our facebook group what they do with their kids’ finished masterpieces, and here’s what they said:
- Take pictures of the finished work and make a year by year photo album
- Take photos of them holding their finished work, so you can remember how big they were when they did it
- Put the most special pieces into an art portfolio that can be accessed by you or your child to look at
- Store them in a big bin
- Clip them to an art display clothes-line
- Take pictures and write about them in a blog
- Hang them on the wall, by themselves or in frames
As for which ones to keep and which ones to toss? It’s fun to get the kids involved in this little sorting task. Here’s what we do to find our favourites with the kids:
- Hold up two of their pieces and ask them which one they want to recycle
- Toss (recycle) the one they’ve chosen, and grab another piece, comparing it to the first
- If they can’t make a decision about which one to recycle, talk about why each piece is special to them. You may decide to keep both
- If they’re saying ‘keep’ to most of the artwork or crafts, go through the pile with them again and ask them to find ‘X’ number of pieces to recycle, or ask them to keep their top 5 or top 10……
- If one or both of you really want to keep an item that the other is willing to toss, keep it – you can always part with it later
- Remember to remove bits of ribbon, googly eyes, pom poms, and other small pieces that can be re-used for other crafts. Keep them in a craft supply bin that the kids can easily access
Do you have more ideas on what to keep or toss, or how to store finished crafts? Let us know!