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It’s Summer Break for us now and I’m finally getting around to cleaning out the kids backpacks from the last few weeks of school. This is when all the artwork, reports, and most important papers come home because the teacher has kept a lot at the school for display. These papers are too important to my kids to just throw in the garbage, so we make sure they have a place for all these things.
This is how we go through all their school work and decide if its a “keeper” or a “thrower”.
We place all the papers on the floor in the living room in a stack and go through them one at a time. We have a box for the “keepers” and a recycle bin for the “throwers”. I grab a paper and if I’m not sure how important it is to my child, I ask “Keeper or Thrower”? That way I’m not getting rid of something that my child values.
If my child is having a hard time deciding whether or not to throw something out, I always remind them that we can’t keep everything. And if we do keep everything there won’t be any room for next years papers in the box. It usually helps them think about the future and reminds them that they will be making so many more amazing things soon.
We usually use a file holder box, but sometimes those are just too small for some of their art projects. So we graduated to a large under bed box. These boxes have lids and fit perfectly under your child’s bed so they stay out of sight but are still easily accessible during the school year. You can find a 6-Pack of these HERE. I love these boxes and use them for wrapping paper, off-season shoe and clothes storage, and workout equipment.
I always make sure that there is a name and date on each paper we add to the box so that I know who’s paper it is and when it was made. I don’t bother trying to divide the papers into years, because as they get stacked they stay organized into year.
This method has been a life saver for our family. There are no more papers left in backpacks all summer long. We have a process and it really works.
During the summer my kids keep creating and we love to display their artwork on the side of our fridge. We have one whole side of our fridge that is exposed so we use it to proudly display their work.
If your child is older, chances are, they won’t want to keep most of their papers. That’s when you have them throw an after school paper burning party. My 17 year old son goes up the canyon and burns his paperwork in the fire pits at a camping ground. They have fun roasting marshmallows over their schoolwork. Ha Ha!
Here are some other great ideas for displaying your child’s artwork.
I love this cute Star Art Cable for displaying artwork on a large scale.
This idea using clip boards is adorable and would keep your kids busy for hours!
We did something similar to this when we had a preschool in our home. This is where we had the kids put their work when they were done. Then at the end of the day they took their papers home. I loved it! It was the easiest way to let their artwork dry too!
And this last one is genius! These frames open up right on the wall for easy transferring. So smart!
I hope some of these ideas help you organize your child’s artwork and schoolwork at the end of the school year. What do you do with all those papers?
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