Learn how to organize kids’ art with these 4 easy steps. Transform your kids’ big pile of artwork into a manageable workflow.
Updated February 2025
Today we’re going to tackle the pile of kids’ art. We’ll share some tips for choosing what art to keep, what to gift, what to repurpose, and what to toss.
To start, let’s assume we both have a towering stack of kids’ art in front of us because our kids are prolific. It’s been piling up for a while and we’re not sure what to do with it all.
We’re going to go through it quickly and sort it into four piles:
You can do this yourself if your child is young or with your child if he/she is older.
How to Organize Kids’ Art
1. Keep
Anything you love or that your child loves goes into the keep pile. Also anything that represents a change in style or developmental stage. Think anything you would want to have 10-20 years from now.
Some of the keepers will get displayed around the house; some will get stored in a safe place.
2. Gift
Share the love and gift artwork that could go in the keep pile except that you don’t need to keep everything. Send some of the good ones to Grandma, a friend, or Uncle Joe with a little note. Take a photo first if it truly is a keeper.
3. Repurpose
Some artwork lends itself well to being used for gift wrap, note cards, buntings, collages, envelopes, book covers, etc.
Think process art that filled the page such as fingerpainting, splatter painting, bubble printing, marble rolling. Maybe a few pieces went into the keep pile, but the kid loved the process and created artwork after artwork, many of which look much the same.
Here are LOTS of ideas for repurposing artwork like this!
4. Toss
If it’s not a keeper or suitable to gift or repurpose, toss it or send it to the recycle bin. If your child created a couple dozen artworks that are virtually identical, you may want to keep the best one and recycle the rest.
And if he added a quick scribble to ten sheets of paper, you may not feel like they are worth keeping.
A note about the tossers: If you’re making these decisions yourself, you may want to recycle them on the sly.
Would you like more ideas for setting up a kids’ art space? Or you might need help organizing and maintaining your kids art area? We’ve got tons of ideas and tips for you!
More Kids’ Artwork Solutions
- 6 Easy Ways to Store Kids Artwork
- 13 Ways to Reuse Children’s Art
- 6 Easy Ways to Display Kids Artwork
- 3 BEST Tips to Maintain a Kids’ Art Space
- 21 Ways to Display Kids Artwork
- Our Favorite Way to Frame Kids’ Artwork
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