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8 Ideas for Organizing

Kids Artwork

by Maria Gracia Updated October 1, 2023 Join our newsletter to be notified when new content is added to our website. In school, kids are encouraged to create, draw, color, paint and build. These activities can certainly stimulate children and help them grow. Very often, these masterpieces that your children create are brought home and proudly displayed on the refrigerator. But what do you do when all of the artwork begins to take over your home? Here are eight ideas: 1. Find the diamonds. Rather than keeping every single piece of artwork, sit down with your son or daughter on a regular basis and ask your child to choose the one or two he/she likes best. By the end of the year, you should have no more than five to seven pieces of artwork that your child believes to be the “best” pieces. This will help keep the artwork under control, and will still give you an opportunity to save some creations for future memories. 2. A picture is worth a thousand words. Take photos of the artwork that your child creates and keep them in a scrapbook…even better, a digital scrapbook. Even if the artwork is discarded, you'll still have the memory. You might even temporarily hang all of the artwork on a wall, and take a photo of the art with your child standing in front of it. Many memories in one photo. 3. Kids file storage box. Office supply stores carry portable file boxes that hold hanging file folders. These generally have a cover and a handle for easy portability. Help your child create her very own filing system. Perhaps one file folder for 2nd grade artwork, one for 3rd grade artwork, and so on. Now, all the drawings, and any type of artwork that lays flat, will be kept safe and organized. You'll even be teaching your child filing skills…it’s never too early for that. 4. Keep non-flat art organized. For artwork that does not lay flat, the perfect container may be a large, plastic container with a lid. Your child will have a space for shadow boxes, and other artwork that won't fit into a file folder. Again, be choosy. If you keep every single piece of artwork your child brings home for the next fifteen years, your house is going to be overflowing with it. Posters can be rolled, secured with a rubber band, and stored upright in a closet…perhaps with a 5-maximum limit. 5. Hang it. Get your child his very own artwork bulletin board so he can display his favorite artwork in his bedroom. When organized on a nice cork board, this really adds a nice touch to a child's room. Plus, your child can very easily switch one piece of art, with another. You can frame one special piece and hang it in a prominent place, and then switch out that masterpiece from time to time. 6. Keep the art supplies at bay. If your child produces a lot of artwork at home, she probably has tons of crayons, markers and other art supplies. Keep like-items sorted (crayons with crayons, markers with markers, etc.), and then store these “sorted packets” together in a portable box, light enough for your child to be able to transport from one room into the next. 7. Pass some on. Your child’s artwork makes the perfect gift for grandma, grandpa, sister Jane, Aunt Sue, Uncle Jim, and the neighbors too. Rather than buying gifts for your child to give to family members, encourage them to give their creations away as special gifts to special people. 8. Don’t forget about adult memories.  Once your child is a teenager, he or she may become disinterested in his or her artwork. However, be warned, that interest may come back as an adult. Here’s what I did. I bought a 12 x 12 scrapbooking album, black scrapbooking paper, white labels, and sheet protectors. I taped my daughter’s best artwork from each school year (just a few a year) onto these black pages, and labeled them “gallery-style” like you’d see in a museum, with my daughter’s name, age, and the title of the piece. She now has one book that displays her grade school artwork that she can enjoy as an adult when she has children and grandchildren of her own. Back to Organized Kids Index