any clever ideas for what to do with all their drawings etc?

[costagirl]

Today I HAVE to get on with a dreaded task. The pile of drawings/paintings/stories from ds age 6 is now reaching Mount Everest proportion on a chair in the study. I cannot possibly keep them all, but it seems so awful throwing away something he's worked hard on! Have tried a big box file for the best bits (already full and bursting), a scrapbook etc - what do you all do? Am tempted to ditch them, but that makes them see worthless!

bin them when they're not looking

sheesh

'worked hard on'

yeah right?

Keep one or two - the first one he ever did, any that mean anything, etc. Then get rid of the rest. I have one or two up at a time in the kitchen/on the fridge, and replace them when new ones come home (not when ds is looking though!)

but they are 'worthless'

his joy in them is in the creation and the presentation to you, not in getting them out and looking at them when he could be drawing more

(though obv keep the ones that say 'to the best mumy in th werld' etc and accept they are for you not him)

does he want to keep them?

imagines the deluge of 'hard work' I'd be inundated with

ok honestly I have 2 alcoves that I put up the best of stuff on .. and that's stuff that are like illustrated stories and really really good pictures and paintings ... every so often I switch them with new stuff or stuff that the children ask 'can it go on the wall'

all other stuff gets filed in the bin

(and when I say 'does he want to keep them?' I DO NOT mean ask him, I mean make a judgement youyrself and then put them in the recycling box just before the men come)

Twiglett believe me he sweats blood over every chuffing detail of his Indiana Jones/Thunderbirds/Horrid Henry pictures - everything he draws is so complicated! If they were all naff pictures of stick men I would bin them no prob! But you are all right and they must go to the recycling bag. Not today though as it's an Inset day!

we stick them all over the walls in the kitchen instead of wallpaper.

When the wall is full, we take the first one down and put a new one in its place.

Of course we keep the really good ones (in a file)

I have an elephant that DS did at age 3 .. it looks like an elephant .. it has a trunk and a splodge where the eye should be .. I have a beautifully illustrated story he did when he was 5 that goes (copied ver batim) "I wat to toe parc on me bike beecus I Lik goig on the seecrt paf and I lic to ridig me bike to footballl"

Remember when Anthea told the parents to scan them all and save them on a tidy CD?

I have a trunk with loads in!

I imagine them, when I die, sorting my stuff and finding their pictures, all four of them laughing and crying over the good old days

with my rose tinted specs!

I have these folders from GLTC which take loads and are stashed under a sofa. They would go in the loft if only we had one.

Sounds like I have the same idea as Squonk. As soon as a picture or sculpture is finished we go "wwwwoooooo how lovely" and I peg it on a string that I have put up in dds bedroom. When it is v full I take a few down and say to myself "Is this a landmark picture?" If the answer is "Yes" e.g she did the cutting herself or it is the first completely independent painting (my dd is much younger than yours) I put it in the book called "dds beautiful art book" if the answer is "No" it goes for recycling.

Also, as we don't live near relations and have lots! Pictures are often sent for birthdays, christmas or just to say hello. My family treasure and love these beyond belief!!! My Dad has started to stick his favourite in a book to show to dd when she is grown-up!!!

I have 6 large Clipart frames on one wall of the kitchen, which get updated with the best pictures. Like teafortwo, I put landmark ones in a box for posterity, along with special birthday cards, school reports, dh's press cuttings, printed photos etc. The box stays downstairs under a cupboard, and every year we go through it together over the Xmas holiday's then it gets taped up, labelled and goes up into the loft when I put the Xmas decorations back up.

I too like to think of getting them all out and going through them when the kids are older beety

I agree with Ruby - you can take digital photos of them and keep them on a disc. Also send some to various family members ...(granny would just love these ones

scan them into pc

I would get rid of some - in the kitchen I have a 'teddy chain' plastic chain with hooks on. All recent goes on there, then once in a while we have a clear out both DS (5 & 8) sice about the age of 3 have been involved with the 'selective' recycling.
Then they are stored in order in a big art file they both have each.

I would get rid of some - in the kitchen I have a 'teddy chain' plastic chain with hooks on. All recent goes on there, then once in a while we have a clear out both DS (5 & 8) sice about the age of 3 have been involved with the 'selective' recycling.
Then they are stored in order in a big art file they both have each.

Noooo, don't bin it all! My mum still has a largish selection of my old art work (30yrs ago) and it is fun to look back at what I did. With DD we put some of her stuff up on 'the wall', this gets rotated round when she does something new. The stuff the gets removed from the wall is put into a large portfolio. Everything else gets binned.

You can get really cheap plastic art folders in stationery shops. Keep the artwork its their development. Ok be selective but keep the important pieces.

I had a Gallery day where the children and I chose their best ones to go around the house for Daddy. We decided if they weren't good enough for the gallery then they would have to go into recylcling.... the dcs really loved it. After they went in the scrap book.
We also have an empty picture frame where 'My best work' goes and only that gets to go in the scrapbook.