6 Ways to Organize and Declutter Kids’ Artwork

Are you overwhelmed with your kids’ artwork? Here are ways you can cherish those masterpieces and cut down on the clutter at the same time.

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child's hand painting with watercolor paints in the background

Does it seem like you’ve got piles of your kids’ artwork around your home? Whether it’s drawings, paintings, journals, arts and crafts and other projects the kids do at home or school, it can feel overwhelming to decide what to do with all the artwork, especially if you’re sentimental.

Here’s a tutorial on how to organize and declutter kids artwork that will make it easy to decide what to keep, what to toss, and what to save digitally.

Why Should I Declutter My Kids Artwork?

Aside from clearing up space in your home, declutering in an ordered way mean you can spend less time running around cleaning up and more time doing things with your kids, making more memories!

Questions to Ask Yourself When Declutering

It can seem like a daunting task, what to keep? What to get rid of? Here’s a few questions that can hep you decide:

  • Does this art or school assignment have a personal connection?
  • Is this artwork a duplicate or older iteration?
  • Is this original or something colored in from a coloring book?
  • What does your child want to save? (For this one they’ll often say ‘all of it’ if it’s an open ended questions, so give them a choice between artwork rather than being open ended).
  • How much time did my child spend on this? Did they whip it up in 20 mins or did they spend time and effort on it?

Step-by-Step Guide to Organize and Declutter Kids Artwork

1. Keep it all in one spot

Have a designated craft area for your kids where they can work on their masterpieces and keep all the art supplies and artwork is in one spot. This will make it easier to keep track of artwork and keep them organized. 

2. Create a space to feature artwork

Ask your child to pick their favorite pieces to feature on an art wall, refrigerator or other space in the home where it’ll get attention. You can get frames to create a gallery wall or even a hanging wall display.

3. Change artwork regularly

Wherever you’re placing your kids’ artwork, you’ll want to change it out on a regular basis, like once a month or once a quarter. Don’t let your refrigerator or walls get covered up. Keep everything neat and tidy.

Let the kids choose which pieces should be displayed. That way they feel that they have a say in the decision. This also makes them feel important by getting decide what you’re decorating your home with.

4. Store favorites in a bin

As you rotate kids’ artwork from the gallery wall or refrigerator, you can keep favorites in a bin or filing system. Write the date and name of each child on the back of the artwork piece so it’ll be easy to organize.

Generally, I recommend keeping 5-10 artwork pieces per year to keep in a bin per child per year. This helps to keep the clutter under control, but you still get to keep the favorites. For those that don’t make the cut to keep in a bin, take a photo and keep in a digital album.

5. Take photos of artwork to keep in a digital album

If you or your kids have trouble letting go of things, make a big deal that the artwork can live on forever in a digital album. You can show them that once the photo is uploaded to your computer it can then be shared with everyone, including grandma and grandpa.

There are even digital scrapbooks you can create and share like Plum Print and ArtKive App. Or you can add digital artwork pieces to a digital photo album with photos, like Chat Books. We like to incorporate artwork with photos for each stage or year – for instance, first day of school photos and drawings they made that day. 

6. Review albums and bins once a year

Make a date with your kids to look at their art albums or art bins once a year. It gives you all a chance to remember the moments and talk about what they made. It’s also an opportunity to go through and purge anything you don’t need or make digital copies to save space.

What’s the Best Way to Display my Kid’s Artwork?

Each week your child may bring home a number of ‘masterpieces’, it’s great to have a dedicated space to display some them other than the fridge. Here’s some ideas:

  • Old frames – get some old picture frame (you can even spray them all the same color). You can place new artwork in the center of them and rotate weekly/monthly.
  • Art wall – All you need is some twine, clothespins, and nails. String them up in the corner of a room and pin on different artwork.
  • Clipboards – simple clipboards on a wall are a quick and easy way to frame and rotate the artwork.
  • Decals – place some temporary decal frame stickers on the wall and that’s where the art can go!

Top Tips for Organizing and Decluttering Kids Artwork

  • Don’t keep it all. You can appreciate and enjoy your kids’ artwork without feeling overwhelmed with clutter
  • Enlist the kids to help pick their favorites to store in a bin
  • Take photos of artwork you want to keep but don’t want to keep in a bin. Create a photo album or digital scrapbook
  • Let the kids pick their favorite artwork to display on a wall or prominent spot in your home – like the fridge
  • Go through artwork in your favorites bin or photo albums regularly and purge what you and your kids no longer cherish

young girl painting with watercolors

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Did you try these tips to organize and declutter your kids’ artwork? Don’t forget to comment below to let me know how you found out. You can also FOLLOW ME on FacebookInstagram and Pinterest.

7-Day Decluttering Challenge

Looking for more ways to declutter your home? Join my FREE 7-Day Decluttering Challenge! I’ll go more in-depth on how to declutter your bathrooms and every room in your home. I’ll also show you how to deal with the emotions that often come up when you’re decluttering and simple strategies you can use to overcome them.

FREE 7-Day Decluttering ChallengePhoto of a decluttering workbook with a link to a decluttering challenge

 

 

 

Photo credit: Bigstockphoto.com / Goodmoments / Rolencino

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One Comment

  1. This is a great guide! Change artwork regularly is such a helpful tip! For storing toys, I recommend enlisting the kids to make the labels for the bins. This will encourage them to organize and sort their toys =)