Parenting & Family

What is the grace period before throwing out Children's "Art"??

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  • Apr 20th, 2007 12:03 pm
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Deal Addict
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Apr 4, 2003
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Oakville

What is the grace period before throwing out Children's "Art"??

I have two kids and the amount of crafts these kids generate weekly is huge. I think that we have a storage issue with all the stuff they make. I hold little sentimentality over most of it. The early stuff was probably constructed/coloured by one of us adults anyway.

At what point do you say "recycling bin"??
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Aug 22, 2003
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Niagara Falls
When our kids were little I came up with a system. Everything would go on the fridge. As a new one went on the old went in a storage bin. I would then go through the bin every 2-3 months and take the ones that stood out and put them in the "keep" bin. I actually decorated my laundry room at our previous house with all their artwork. As my laundry room at this house is still unfinished I took several of our favourites and framed them for our basement hallway. The kids (18,15&12) think it's really neat to see artwork they did years ago hanging fully framed and it carries fond memories for us of when they were "little"... :)
Deal Guru
Dec 31, 2005
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If you don't want to keep everything for ever, scan it or take a photo and keep digital copy....make a photo album if you want will take up less space.
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Dec 18, 2005
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i'm in the same boat...my daughter paints & draws a few pictures every day! I pick out the ones that are the most intricate (not just a few lines or scribbles) and put those away in a bin. The others are recycled daily. I couldn't possibly save all of it! (and some really aren't worth keeping, sorry it's the truth) The really exceptional ones from both our kids we had framed, a couple hang at home, some at work.
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Apr 13, 2006
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nalababe wrote: If you don't want to keep everything for ever, scan it or take a photo and keep digital copy....make a photo album if you want will take up less space.
+1 for the digital copies
When I was a kid and found out that my parents threw out the stuff I gave them I was heart broken because I put a lot of time and effort into the things I made for them.

I'd say keep them, if there is not enough room, buy a bigger house :D One day you'll want to reminisce the times when your kids were young and innocent but realize you threw out all their stuff...
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Aug 7, 2005
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Princeton
lol, i am still packing around my two kids crafts from gr.1 and they are graduated now....boxes and boxes and boxes.... ;)
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Jan 15, 2007
637 posts
gmark2000 wrote: I have two kids and the amount of crafts these kids generate weekly is huge. I think that we have a storage issue with all the stuff they make. I hold little sentimentality over most of it. The early stuff was probably constructed/coloured by one of us adults anyway.

At what point do you say "recycling bin"??
give it to grandma? :cheesygri
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Jul 24, 2003
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scan the artworks into digital format

keep a scrapbook of the best ones that you can keep forever
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Apr 28, 2004
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Where's the sentimental value of looking at scanned photos of the artwork?!? I guess my point is, as a parent, I want to keep the original only because it was created by the hands of my daughter. I couldn't care less about the content, whether it was just globs of paint or crayon scribbles.

After a few months, we sort through the piles with her. She picks out the ones she wants to keep plus we add the ones we like too. Having only a digital scan of the ones that "missed the cut" is kinda mean tease!

If anything needs to be on digital format, it's the actual pictures of her creating the artwork and not the artwork itself.

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