Children's Art Work

Do you have a budding Picasso in your home? Whether you find it easy to spirit things away to the recycle bin or not you are probably holding onto far too much of your child's art work. It is very difficult to let go as it feels like it captures a moment in time which you don’t want to forget, and as they get older you realise time is flying by very quickly.

Fast forward a few years; you will either have boxes of it around your house or in your loft and your child will have left home.

Fast forward again to the point you decide to give it to them; will they be happy to see all of it or will it become a burden for them to keep? I am not saying throw it all away, I loved it when my mum gave me old school books, pictures and Christmas decorations I had made; but it was not an overwhelming amount just a few select pieces.

So if you are struggling to know what to do here is a process which may help you manage which of their wonderful creations to keep:

✔ During a school term, keep hold of anything you want, either on display on the wall or in a folder.

✔ At the end of the term, with your child, have look through them all and choose a couple of favourites (keep these safe in a folder)

✔ At the end of the year look at everything you have kept and pick out your absolute favourites.

✔ Put these into a file and into their memory box (this is definitely a reason to have a memory box, to give you a place). If you don’t already have one, you can find advice on what to think about when getting one here Memory Boxes.

✔ Recycle the rest.

Alternatively you can make use of technology there are applications available, like Keepy, which allow you to scan in your children’s work and store it. They also have the functionality to have it printed as a book. This allows you to keep it and let go of it all in one! Whatever you do try not to feel guilty as you open the lid of the recycling bin, just think about not creating future clutter for your children - if you can I am sure they will thank you for it.