Easy Ways to Display Kids' Art

Kids’ artwork can be a pain to sort, store and display. If your kids are like mine, they’re prolific — and very attached to their masterpieces. Here are some ways to sort through their productions and display the best:

Hang 'em high! Image from KLW on Flickr

1. Digital Frames. Scan your little Picasso’s masterpieces into the computer, save them to a flash memory card, and put them on rotating display. (I love this lucite-look frame from Amazon for under $40: eMotion DF-EM7BL 7-Inch Ambient-Blue Digital Picture Frame.)

2. String ‘Em Up. I got this idea from my son’s first-grade teacher. It’s a perfect way to show off lots of work in a minimum of space. All you need is a spool of fishing line (or yarn) and a pack of clothespins. Easy-peasy!

3. Frame It. Make your Monet-in-training feel even more special with some fancy frames. Forget the designer frames, though, and try these Gilt Frames Wall Stickers. Not only are they easy to use, they’re repositionable!

4. Photo Book! Scan ‘em all in, upload them to Shutterfly, and create a gorgeous coffee table book.

5. Group Them. Put a bunch of unrelated pictures together in matching frames, and they look like real works of art! You can get inexpensive frames from the craft store in a plain black or white. Let the artwork shine and add the color.

Cheap frames, expensive result! Image from It's Great to Be Home on Flickr

One final tip… For anything that doesn’t make the cut and get put on display, I store in a big plastic tub in the attic. At the end of the school year, I weed through it all — it’s much easier to toss stuff after nine months when I see all the stacks of papers and can choose representative pieces from each of the kids’ “stages.” In other words, when I see all forty-seven pirate pictures altogether, it’s much easier to toss forty (or even forty-six!) of them.

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Kids in the Kitchen

http://www.afinetoothcomb.com Julie – Fine Tooth Comb

I love the second picture in this post! The frames look great so symmetrical like that, and child has to feel special seeing his/her artwork displayed that way!
Kasi

I LOVE THESE IDEAS!
Actually, I can see using almost all of them…in a rotation process. From art table to wall/clips to digital frame. Eventually to a coffee table book and storage bin with the best of the best ending up on the walls in frames. It gives me this sense of completion with a never ending pile of clutter on my desk that I can’t part with, but can’t really keep either. Thanks for the clarity! I’m going to go get some fish wire!
Margy Eastman

You’re not kidding about the prolific artwork! Pre-school is filling my home with paper – we employ the “tub” method, and the freehand drawings make it to the fridge before going in a separate “keep” file.

The new web site looks great!
http://www.creativehomemaking.com Rachel

I love the photobooks from Shutterfly. They seem kind of expensive but I have seen the finished product. They are beautiful and would be a great family keepsake…well worth the expense.
http://www.mycmsite.com Ryall

As an art teacher and creative memories consultant, here is my solution…especially after finding years and years of my childhood artwork in my parents attic with no dates or record of what it once was. COnstruction paper and newsprint papers are not intended for the long-term. SO….I display for a few weeks, take a photo of the “good stuff” and send 99% to the grandparents who live out of town. They are always eccstatic to receive these packages and call and rave to my kiddos about their artistic abilities. I feel good about having preserved the memories and shared them and I don’t have the guilt of pitching the original!
http://www.paintdo.com paintdo administrator

Hello, you can take digital pictures, or scan your children’s drawings and upload them to

http://www.paintdo.com

It’s free !

Best regards
Your friends at paintdo.com
Preserve Children’s Art Forever (TM)
Kathy

I also suggest that parents take a photo of their child holding their creation when he or she brings home artwork. Then you have a record of how old and how your child looked at the time (and which of your children did it!) and a photo of the artwork in case you don’t end up saving it.
I wish I’d done that.
Anonymous

Good one! I love that idea.

Fun Ways to Display Kids’ Artwork

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