A Simple Way to Store and Preserve Children’s Art

Anne-Marie agreed with me about getting rid of stuff, but wonders what to do with her children’s artwork. I’ve wondered the same thing for awhile. And in typical perfectionist fashion, I’ve done more pondering than doing.

My children’s artwork is stashed in the desk drawer, file box, or craft closet.

The Young Artist

I planned to store current items in my desk, add a few photographs from the year, and put them all together in scrapbooks for posterity. It’s a good idea and a good plan, but it has yet to be implemented.

For me scrapbooking becomes all about the paper and color and layout. My craft time vanishes. I look at my accomplishment, one vibrant page with three photos displayed. Hundreds of images are left in the box.

The following tutorial inspired me with its simplicity at last year’s Heart of the Matter’s Online Conference. Kelli Crowe shows how a binder, page protectors, and stickers can be used to quickly store and preserve the memories of a school year.

I can do that! Anne-Marie, you can too.

How do you store your children’s artwork?

Storing Notebooks

My son’s school work is stored in binders. At the end of each year, his revelations are bound with thick rubber bands and placed in the garage closet. Five years worth of notes, pictures, and maps hidden away. Not anymore.

I planned to start school on Monday. And we did, sort of. After eating the Deckard’s famous (now animal-shaped) waffles, we sang, read a Scripture, and prayed. Craft time followed, because bookmarks save time, and our stash vanished. While coloring, Sweet Pea informed me making bookmarks is not school. “You have to go to school,” she insisted. She’s only three, so there is time to persuade her. Her own pink binder helped a bit.

Then I needed to decide what to do with Bug’s notebooks. Relinquishing them to the garage, yet again, seemed to obscure the purpose. I want my children to have a record of their learning, to delight in reviewing their discoveries. That doesn’t happen if their work is stuffed out of sight.

I mulled over the idea of combining five years worth of notebooks and building on the foundation already laid. The stacks intimidated, but the reward waited.

I separated each subject for various grades and removed math and spelling worksheets. Bug’s first year drawings brought smiles of remembrance. His growing understanding demonstrated as the pages progress. Every year we discuss the what and why of each subject, so I threw away duplicates. A few subjects like geography, math, and literature were easy to weave together; others are in portfolios separated by grade. My son has his own reference library, a reminder of what he accomplished.

However, the rewards of my labor aren’t shelves full of handwritten books. They are only tools. The true prize is in the heart of my child. When he applies what he learns to life. When he knows how to find wisdom. When he experiences the calm peace of industriousness. When he remembers the reasons for integrity.

More than records on paper, may truth be written on his heart, where it can never be erased or tossed aside.