Your Kids’ Art: What To Do With It
My four-year-old, Harry, came running out of school, excited to tell me that he’d made a ‘diva’. My first thought, of course, was that he’d fashioned some likeness of Mariah Carey or maybe Diana Ross. I couldn’t think why, but I was willing to go with it. But then, from out of his book bag, he pulled the ‘diva’.
Made of clay, it looked rather like a diseased liver with a candle stuck in the middle. I tried not to recoil. I praised his amazing painting skills and then tucked the diva back in his bag. I wasn’t thinking, “Wow, my child is so talented”, I was thinking “Where the hell am I going to put that monstrosity?!”
Look At All This…Art
The first time your child brings a piece of art back from school, you exclaim with delight, you show everyone, you stick it to the fridge or even frame it and hang it on the wall. All this despite the fact that it’s probably just a collection of paint smudges on rough, khaki-colored paper.
As the child proceeds through preschool and then “big” school, they bring home more and more. Some of it is quite good (although the better it is, the more you suspect they didn’t actually do it themselves). Some of it is dreadful. My son once brought home what looked like a random pile of crap all glued together and poorly painted over. Turned out it was a “rubbish sculpture.” It really was. In more ways than one.
But still you feel like you need to keep it all, don’t you?
I mean, this is your child! He’s creative! He’s amazing! Of course he is. But the actual paintings… well, they’re not so good. But you can’t throw them away, can you? Can you?
You CAN Throw It Out
Of course you can. I’ve put a little test in place: if the picture makes me smile, I keep it. If not (and assuming my son’s not interested in keeping it himself, which he never is), in the bin it goes.
Even using this method, your home may well be overflowing with art that you – you know, if you were really honest – could live without, but a good idea is to take a photograph or scan of the painting (so you’ve done your duty and saved it for posterity) and then throw the painting itself right in the recycling.
And don’t forget about passing any that you no longer want (or didn’t want in the first place) to various relatives. Grandparents are a particularly good choice. Especially since they’ll actually be thrilled to receive an example of their little treasure’s prodigious talent. And only you will know the truth. It’s win-win!
[Photo by ||!prliignore0||]
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January 6th, 2009 at 7:10 am
When my kids were younger we got Grandpa a portfolio with clear pockets and he could put the kids artwork in it. Oprah's clutter therapist guy recommends photographing it and making a photo book of kid's work. My kids are older so we gush over things for a bit, keep the stuff that is especially charming, and toss the rest. I often say to my daughter who is the creative one. Wasn't that fun to make? You did a great job, but you know we can't keep everything. She agrees so it is not a problem. I have a craft blog, so sometimes I put stuff on that and that satisfies the desire to save everything.
Also, we absolutely open up the school bags every day right over the garbage can. “This work was all about the learning process and I can see that you learned a lot!” and into the bin it goes.
January 6th, 2009 at 8:27 am
Keris- Through 6th grade – I instituted a plan where we would have a bin in which we held all the art work and “projects” and every 6 months we would clear it out and keep only 1 (or sometimes 2) things that we put away for safekeeping. Not only did this relieve me of some of this stuff but it taught my kids the art of letting go and choosing. (something my husband still struggles with!)
January 6th, 2009 at 7:53 pm
Great suggestions Keris, thanks! I've been battling the 'toss-it-in-the-bin' guilt as of late – now I'll start taking pics – phew…
January 7th, 2009 at 2:39 am
“”This work was all about the learning process and I can see that you learned a lot!” and into the bin it goes.”
I love this!
January 7th, 2009 at 2:39 am
Thanks, Pearl and MoJo.
January 7th, 2009 at 5:06 am
Thanks for posting this. Andy and I have been having this 'discussion' over the last couple of days as part of our January clear out. I'm all for chucking pretty much everything out (Johnny is not an artistic soul), Andy wants to keep every scrap of rubbish Johnny has ever scribbled on. It's interesting to note that Pearl's husband struggles with it too…..
January 7th, 2009 at 9:39 am
My loft is insulated with every peice of paper my kids ever touched with a crayon – and now they are 20 and 17, that is a whole lot! I have no doubt that they will ever ask for any of it, but every year, when I take down the Christmas decorations, and when they go back at New Year, I get to rifle through the pile and reminisce. Sad? – probably!
January 7th, 2009 at 11:28 am
A Diva is the little lamp lit by Hindus at Diwali. We made some and they were fab!
January 7th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
My son went through a painting phase before Christmas. I kept the best looking paintings and used the rest to wrap little presents to give to other people for Christmas or folded them up and gave them to the grandparents with a note inside and used it as a large Christmas card.
January 7th, 2009 at 1:52 pm
I think teaching even talented artists not to be too attached to their work is a very valuable lesson to learn at a young age. It prevents perfectionism and keeps them from getting into a creative rut. Sure, it's good to keep the stuff that really turned out (or that the artist is especially attached to) but about 90% of creative endeavors are practice or “flops”….
January 7th, 2009 at 2:30 pm
Great article! Funny and informative.
We do just what you suggest: take a digital photo. But we only do that for the ones we most like. An added bonus is that these can then be added to our photo album, so when we look back in ten years, we'll see it again. And the kids will have a good copy, too. In ten years, the original will be faded and cracking; the photo, bright as the day it was taken.
January 7th, 2009 at 3:06 pm
Oh, I laughed 'til I cried. But I still don't really know what a 'diva' in this context may be?
If you move house a lot (we seemed to) quite a lot of stuff seems to get lost in the move. I don't know how…
January 7th, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Oh, I should have read comments first – Suzi cleared that up for me.
And I'm worried about your loft, Carole, if ever a match gets near it! ; )
January 8th, 2009 at 7:47 am
Thanks for all the great comments. I love the idea of using even the crappiest paintings for something, Michelle! Nice and green too. (As in environmentally, I mean.)