Kid's art projects

[jacksonvasey]

We have just one kid (toddler) but sometimes I would swear we have 5 based on all the paintings and drawings and pictures we get from daycare.  We recently culled our collection down to a manageable level, by photographing everything and then tossing it or giving it to grandparents, etc...

My plan to prevent us accumulating to the same crazy levels again involves just snapping pictures as things come home, and tossing them, unless we really want to keep it.  It's worked out well so far; I created a 'DO Button' recipe on my phone, where I start up the app and it's ready to take a picture, and whatever picture I take automatically gets stored in a 'kids art' folder in Dropbox.

How does everyone else manage this?  Like I said, so far it's pretty easy to start the app and snap a picture and toss it.  But I wonder if there's something better I could be doing...

[AZDude]

This might sound bad, but I usually hang one on the fridge for a week before tossing it. The rest just get thrown into the recycle bin. I hate clutter.

[milliemchi]

As years go on, this will become unmanageable, especially with more than one kid.  I keep only things that show some extra ability or achievement, spunk or personality. I've only kept two drawings so far for my son who is pushing 4. Everything else goes to recycling.  Stuff they worked hard on goes on the fridge for a while regardless of ability; when they forget about it, it's recycled.  I've taken photos of art and craft projects my daughter did, when they actually represented something presentable, but eventually things have to go. In the movies, I've seen the newly minted adult moving out of their parent's home get a box of their keepsakes, not a storage pod. I use that as a guideline.

Digital clutter will also be an issue, who can sort through hundreds of 'art' photos? A few 'best-of' items per year would be plenty for an average kid (IMO).

[relena]

when my daughter said something when i threw away one of her drawings, i told her we could hang some up on her wall. That works out well for us. When she's tired of the art, she'll rip it off the wall herself!! if she says she doesn't like whatever she made, it goes in the recycle bin.

[bogart]

I pick a few I like, and hang them up.  And I ask DS to do the same -- let me know if there are ones he particularly wants to hang up/keep.  Everything else goes in recycling.  Some things (shoebox dioramas, etc.) get left around for awhile, then go in recycling.  I don't take pictures of the stuff, just toss it.  There's an ample plenty, and it's the artist, not the art, that is precious to me.

[La Bibliotecaria Feroz]

I scan a few that I really like to cut down on paper. I save hard copies only of things that are not scannable (bound books, for instance) and that are really interesting/unique.

Some of it goes in the recycle bin immediately. Some goes on the fridge or bulletin board for a while. Now that Big Brother is 4, he has a"keeping box" in his room for storing his personal favorite artworks. When it gets full, I will advise him on sorting through it and winnowing his favorites. (The box would work better if he wasn't a mixed media artist fond of, for instance, taping three pages together and then gluing on surprisingly large pieces of fabric, a button someone gave him, etc.)

[RunHappy]

With my first one, I hoarded a lot of them for years and then purged, only saving the few I really liked.

Some things you can do:
1)  Scan and create a digital copy of them. 
2)  Turn them into birthday/holiday cards for grandparents, aunts, and uncles.  I used to just fold them so the art is on the outside, then write a nice message on the inside.
3)  Buy those plastic sleeves for 3-ring binders and store the artwork in there.

[tonysemail]

i think it's a good exercise to have the kids pick the best ones to keep.
we'll either stick it on the fridge or laminate it and stick it to a window.
laminating helps avoid messes with things like chalk or oil pastel.

I like the 3-ring binder idea.
I'll probably start one this weekend.