Do you keep all your kids "artwork" from daycare, Pre-school and school?

Question

My eldest is 7, so we have many years of collection behind us already. We have a whole toy box filled with our kids paintings and creations, so I thought I might discreetly bin some when my middle son wasn't looking while cleaning out a cupboard today. Well . . . . he found them in the bin when putting rubbish in there and got so upset that I would throw out his "pretties." I feel so bad!

Do you keep all your kids stuff they make?

Answer 1

I just had a big clean up and had to downsize alot! my son is 13 and my daughter is 10, and i  kept every little thing from before pre-school till now! but enough was enough, my kids helped me sort out thier favourites  and we binned the rest, but my kids are older so it was easier, maybe get a sleeve folder and get him to put his favourite things in it and then the rest can go in the bin.

Answer 2

My mum didnt really keep them, and now at 17 i reeeally wish she had

Answer 3

We have 3 children and have numerous paintings etc , at the end of each year will go through it all and keep the best of the lot . I have made up a folder for each child ,named and labelled - school photos , certificates , art etc and all folders have clear slips for easy see through pages .The kids love it ,cause its easy to show the family and friends what they have done and its quick to find instead of searching though boxes...

Answer 4

I work in childcare and we make portfolios for children, including photos and artworks. How about you sit down with your son and stick in the special ones into a scrapbook to keep and look back on?

Answer 5

Ha ha ha.  I just got caught doing almost the same thing just last week.  I always hang pictures they have colored or painted on the refrigerator & one had been up there so long it was torn & yellow.  I usually take them down & save them as you mentioned, but this one was almost destroyed already so I threw it in the trash.  Later my son went to throw something away & saw it.  Boy was he upset!  I crumbled it up & everything.  I don't know how he even saw it.  I recently gave my 20 year old his "stuff" & he thought it was pretty cool.  I also had in it some of his favorite clothes he used to wear when he was like 1 or 2, his first baby outfit & a tiny pair of tennies & the newspaper from the day he was born.  He absolutely loved it!!!!  Don't feel too bad.  I have to go through my boxes too when they get too full to make room for more.  Cute story though!!  :)

So to answer your question, YES!

Answer 6

my parents kept a box and just kept putting all the drawing i brought home in there (except one really great one i did that was framed and still sits in my old room at their house) and a few years ago she found it and gave it to me and it was great to see them,.....and then i throw most of them out. But it was really nice to think she kept them all even if it was just in a box.

Answer 7

my mum made us select our 5 most fave pictures and she displayed them on the fridge,wall ect ect.

then all the others she either kept in a scrapbook or asked us if it was okay to get rid of them.

she kept the most reccent ones and the first few we did!

there was 4 of us though so she couldnt keep them all.

Answer 8

I don't have kids yet but I probably will. I keep everything a kid gives me, unless I lose it. From notepad pages playing blues clues to the craft with feathers and ribbons one gave me for my Birthday now hung on my wall. I'm only 17 and these kids are my cousins or less and I can't part with anything.

Answer 9

I don't.  My house isn't big enough to keep everything they draw or paint of cut and paste at school! LOL

They have a couple of books given to them from pre-school with some of their artwork pasted in - I have kept those.

If they bring home something truly spectacular I will keep it, but as heartless as it may seem, most of the stuff is kept for a few days - lots of "oohs! and aaahs!" and then discretely thrown out.

Answer 10

lol,,, ive been caught many times, so i usually put them straight outside in the big bin cos they neve.r look there,,lol

i only keep special ones like handprints ot small items,, never big cardboard monstrosities,,hehehe xxxxxxxxxxx

Answer 11

my parents still have all my brothers and my artwork from kindergarden in a draw in there bedroom.

mind you im 25 and the brother is 23, i think its sweet that they want to keep it for memory sake. in fact as soon as my frist is born in 8 weeks id like a peice of my artwork from back then and a peice of my daughters work at that stage and have them framed next to each other.

i think my parents only kept it so they could relive the memories or kids not backchatting to them and being all nice and sweet LOL

Answer 12

I keep it all.

They'd have a major moan if I didn't. I just box them up and chuck them in the roof. My Foster Dad, kept most of my art work when I was a kid, and I still have some of it now.

It just saves me arguments. Mine you my kids have made some awesome things, even if they are only young. If I don't keep them we sent them to the Grandparents. hehe

Answer 13

I did but then got rid of it. What you do is take a photo of it. Then you will always have it. That is the joy of the digital camera

Answer 14

oh no! that's sad- my mom just went through all my old stuff when I graduated high school & we talked about them, and I kept the ones that meant the most to me- and she kept the ones that meant the most to her...

But, my son goes to daycare, and he's only 3.. but he still brings home a picture everyday from "art" class. I have all of his, but it's only a years worth of collection. I'm sure when I have more kids, less space, and as time passes- I'll have to let some go...

I think middle school/ high school is a good time to go through the memories and get rid of some stuff. I know that I'd rather keep my sons pictures then mine now!

Answer 15

No...my kids are arts & crafts machines and if I kept everything they made, all of their stuff would have to have its own room in our house!

When they bring something they made home, it goes on the fridge or the corkboard on the staircase wall going down into the basement/playroom. The time limit for the fridge is a week and the time limit on the corkboard is a month and they know this. I keep the ones that special and put them into a box or the baby book and the others go into the trash. (I put it in right before my husband takes the garbage out)  A new picture goes up in it's place.

My kids know that I throw things away to make room for the new things they make and understand I can't keep and don't want to keep EVERYTHING. My grandmother did that with my mother and I remember when she passed away, we found boxes upon boxes of art work! What are you to do with all that?

My kids aren't going to care about a 2 second scribble they did with a blue marker at 3yrs 15 years from now. A mother's/fathers Day card and note, their first sketch of a person in art, holiday decoration, story they wrote etc I think they would enjoy reading or looking at, so that's what I keep.

Best Wishes =]

Answer 16

omg no don't throw them out, you'll regret that in years, or maybe I'm just from an over-nostalgic family, my dad kept everything I ever made and almost cries when he looks at it all now LOL

Answer 17

My daughter has just started kindy and she is an "artwork" queen. If I kept everything she made from when she started a term ago this house would be under siege from paintings and makings from class. My bin needs to go out on a Tuesday night and I usually wait until the kids are in bed to do the bins and put everything out, whoops the other night I binned a few of her art stuff then and I think about a month ago I did the same thing.........I kept her very firsts, and the special one she made me for my birthday but I am pleased when she has had too busy a day at kindy and could only do one painting, not 6, lol.

P.s. If your kids did a lot of paintings they can be used as wrapping paper to family and close friends.......just a thought.

Answer 18

To the best of my knowledge, Mum still has the majority of the stuff my sister and I made, and I am now 20 and she is 16! The christmas decorations we made as kids still get draggged out and displayed and everything!

Answer 19

Here's something that might help to ease your mind...it's PROCESS NOT PRODUCT that is important at the onset.  But once you have a boxful, have the children assist in sorting through the items, identifying the "absolutely must save" projects (maybe you even want to have them mounted, framed and displayed)...the sorting process is a great walk down memory lane that you can share with your child while building up their self-esteem.  I am a preschool teacher.

Answer 20

Well, its too early for me. But my mom still has a box full of my arts and crafts from grade 1 and up and this is going back about 25 years. LOL.

But i don't think she kept everything, just the ones that had meaning, mother days cards, etc or any arts and crafts that turned out really nice.

You don't have to keep all of it. But when you do discard some, just make sure you dump it in the outside bin where he won't see it. :)

Answer 21

no,,that would build up into a large pile if we did that,,i have an idea,,have a camera and take a picture of each piece of artwork ,,save it for when theyre 16-18 or even 13 and give them their stupid weird stuff back,,,,they like to know you're proud of them and have acknowledged their "really really good" pictures. :D

Answer 22

Having 3 kids, there is NO way I could keep all of it, but I have kept the special things, especially stories they have written, family things and Mother's Day mementos.

Answer 23

I used to and now i make them stick the art in an exercise book (the ones I keep) and put the others in the cupboard (the ones I chuck) I used to have paper with one line on it you need to be like a ninja though and dispose fully of the evidence.  in the outside bin or shedder :)