Your child creates masterpieces--at least he or she thinks
so. And sometimes so do you too. But you can only fit so many masterpiece
artworks into your home. In some cases you can keep the artwork but slim it down
a bit for better storage in your home. For instance,...
...have your child choose
12 favorite pieces he created this year. Then have your local office supply
store scan them and turn them into a wall calendar that your family will use all
next year. Then dispose of the originals.
...work with your child
to scan 25 pieces a year onto the computer into a slide show format. This can be
her digital exhibit. And every year you get an "as you grow" slide show to keep
for future viewing. One day you may want to return this to him or her as a
graduation gift in bound book format (especially if they go off to art and
design college).
...frame a few pieces of
his artwork and hang it in an artsy placement on the wall in your child's room
or elsewhere where appropriate in your home. Make sure your child knows
that each month or two he has to change the exhibit by replacing old items in
the "gallery" with new items, just like in a real art gallery. The new art goes
in the frame. The old art goes in the trash. Or "sell" it to grandma and grandpa
at the annual Christmas art auction you have in your home to creatively dispose
of it.
...Let your child
know that if she takes pictures of each artwork with a digital camera, you can
display it in more ways. For instance, you can do a collage of thumbnail
sketches. Again, make sure she knows it's a trade off. You keep the digital
photos (which last longer anyway and give her more flexibility to do more artsy
things with) and trash the paper artwork as it's photographed.
...If you and your child still can't part with enough pieces of
artwork, you always can fall back on the old pizza box storage method. Get a
couple of empty pizza boxes from the restaurant, store the artwork inside, keep
the box under the bed or in the closet on a shelf. Use a pizza box for each year
of artwork. As she enters her teens, or at least by college, she'll be more
interested in finding real pizza in the boxes and less interested in keeping
hundreds of childhood sketches.
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