Organizing Your Tween's School/Artwork

Source: Tween Parent Staff

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Many parents speak of the ongoing challenge of finding an appropriate balance between purging excess and storing their child's prized school/artwork. The picture of opening the trash can and dumping coveted items can seem heartless (or perhaps not, depending on your diligence and organizational style!).

When our children were little, coming home with what seemed like reams of paper with crayon colors of indiscernible markings, they could be "collected" in one area and stowed fairly easily in a folder. Now, as tweens, they're likely adding to their drawings in the forms of 3D objects, large painted posters, textile projects, mementos galore - on top of reports, tests and literary works. Unless you have the space to create a tribute room to the masterful tween in your midst (and, let's be honest, who really does?), you've probably been faced with ongoing decisions about what to keep and what to "move on."

When it becomes hard to actually part with the work, keep this in mind: you're doing yourself and your child a favor by creating a reasonable memory file - one that won't overwhelm anyone and will be a pleasure to peruse at some future point. On top of that, the reality of our fast-paced lives is that in no time, you'll forget what was tossed and focus on what remains.

Ideas to organize your tween's school/artwork:

1. Think through how much and what types of work you want to keep. Choose a keepsake box, file or other collection method and let that help inform your decision (by the amount of space you want to dedicate).
2. Decide if you want to involve your tween (some tweens will enjoy the process while others will be too tied to their creations to be discerning about what to keep and what to toss).
3. If some of the work is too large, consider taking a photo and parting with the cumbersome original.
4. If you find there are numerous and adorable letter-sized "keepers," collect the items in plastic protection sheets in a three ring binder (this might be best for early, prolific drawings). Be sure to date each page by year for interesting reference later. You might also want to label the content since it can sometimes be hard to identify based on scribbles!
5. Artwork that doesn't make the cataloging cut can be used as stationary for special people in your tween's life and for wrapping paper. Some pieces can be gifts for relatives who will appreciate the effort that went into making a masterpiece!
6. For the larger, poster-sized art, purchase a plastic portfolio case at an art store. It will provide a safe, protected casing for the hard-to-store sizable sheets of paper.
7. Don't tuck it all away; get creative in displaying pieces throughout your home. For example, dedicate a couple of shelves in your bookcases to hand-made objects and small treasures; tape up paintings on kitchen cabinets and doors. Buy a couple of standard sized frames and change the artwork periodically. Your tween will appreciate it (even if they don't say so!) and you'll get to enjoy their creativity.
8. Store the "official" feedback types of schoolwork together by year (i.e., report cards, tests, etc.).

Once you've caught up with the organizing, try to do your best to stay on track. Follow your method and tackle a small amount each school year.