What Artwork to Keep During the School Year and What to Toss

So, school has been in session for a few months now and you are building up quite a bit of paper that your kids are bringing home. Determining what artwork to keep during the school year and what to toss is a chore we Mom’s have the privilege to figure out. In a child’s world, everything is artwork, and everything needs to be kept. My daughter is going to be a hoarder I swear, she refuses to throw anything away. As a mother of four who can’t stand clutter, it takes everything in me to hang those pieces of artwork around my house. Yes, I love letting my kids show off their masterpieces, but how long can you really stare at a black marker streaked paper because your 5-year-old said “I drew you, Mom” before you lose your mind?

You don’t have to keep every single piece. In fact, there is a method to my madness when it comes to what artwork to keep during the school year and what to toss.

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What Artwork to Keep During the School Year and What to Toss

Keep Everything At First

It can crush your child’s dreams if they see you throw away one of their special pieces of artwork for you. So, act like you are keeping every piece and display it on the fridge for everyone to see. As your kid brings more pieces home, start rotating them out. I have started making my kids change the papers on the refrigerator so it is not me pulling them down. They have to remove one of theirs and replace it with the new one.

Get Rid of Papers

As you rotate the papers on the fridge, start sneaking them into the recycle bin. If it is a paper of two stick figures and the sun, toss it. Toss school papers that your child had to draw on, little coloring pages, and everything that is going to clutter up your house and most likely get ruined. Trust me, you are going to see so much artwork that the more you throw away, the better it will be. If it is a paper of your child’s VERY FIRST stick person family drawing, keep it. Those are more precious.

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Keep Big Projects

You will want some mementos of each year your child is in school. You need things to look back on and see the growth they have made. You also need things to put out during their high school open house. So, keep big projects with reports. Keep things like science fair projects, final art projects, and other projects that took your child time in and out of class to complete. Projects or assignments that your kids are very proud of, keep those.

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Keep Ornaments

I still have many  Christmas ornaments that I made during school. The great thing about this artwork is that you can put it up all year. The only time it comes out is during Christmas. Plus, this means fewer ornaments you have to buy each year. Keep those things safe. We make Rudolph Puzzle Piece ornaments and Popsicle Stick Ornaments every year, we need to find some more.

Get Rid of Things That Break

Clay creations, little vases, and artwork that has broken toss it. Only keep what you feel is really important to your child. Be careful who is around and who sees these things go into the trash. As artwork gets older, sometimes it breaks, but you don’t want your kids to see you tossing it out either. When you child brings something home that has the potential of breaking, take a photo of them with it do you have the memento for years to come.

What artwork do you keep during the school year and what to toss out should be easier now, right? Share how you do it in the comments below!