Kids Art on Display
Many parents find it hard to keep the home design they planned before and in preparation of children to the structure they originally intended. Designing for a family is certainly something better done when there's already a family present. One of our UK friends reports that there's a bag which comes home from nursery on a regular basis filled to the brim with paintings, drawings, and junk models. These parents love going through it with their children to hear about what they've made – last week their three year old introduced them to "Billy" who is some kind of robot featuring an inventive combination of cereal boxes, yogurt pots, and an unfeasible amount of red paint. Marvellous!
Many parents have to say though, the sheer volume of artwork that my children are generating is overwhelming, and much as they would love to keep everything, some have started being pretty strict about what makes the grade and what goes out for recycling.
Everyone we know who's at the same stage of life has walls or fridges in their kitchens which are covered in kids' masterpieces, and it sets us to wondering if there was a better way to display them.
From experience, parents learn that the most important thing is to appreciate the art when your child has made it and brought it to show you.
Let them know you're proud of their efforts no matter what it does or doesn’t look like, and congratulate them on their creativity.
Remember that "out of sight, out of mind" applies, and by squirreling art things away, it's easier to weed them out without upsetting anyone.
A couple we know have two things going on at the moment and they seem to be working:
Each child has a folder in storage with saved pieces and photos of models
Then they have a kitchen-based rotating gallery. Mom and Dad encourage them to choose what they want to display and they swap things round every so often if they ask to or if they bring something special home. To keep it neat, they have a rail at waist height with clip hooks hanging off it, making it easy for them to things themselves. It's not perfect but it's working OK so far – if anyone has other children's art display and storage ideas, please let us know!
For more ideas, go to 21 Kids’ Artwork Display Ideas for Your Home from The Artful Parent.