What must we do with the crafts that children bring home?
Now that the end of the school year is approaching, we give you some advice to organize the creations that your children have made in the classroom
BarcelonaThe end of the school year is approaching, and with it, a scene that repeats in many homes with school-aged children: they arrive with various – if not many – crafts they've made at school, in after-school activities... And the questions return: what should we do with all this? Do we keep it all? Do we throw it all away? Do we leave it at home and gradually discard it after a few days without the children noticing?
Should they be thrown away?
Grit Förster is a professional organizer and has many families among her clients who have found themselves in this situation. Furthermore, she has three children and, therefore, has experienced this scene firsthand. Multiplied by three. She does not recommend throwing everything away or keeping everything, but rather what she calls "conscious selection." "If we keep everything in a large box, in practice, it's as if it doesn't exist," she assures, arguing that very often everything inside is never looked at again.
What do we keep and what don't we?
According to her, the first thing to do is to evaluate the work that arrives home. If it is something that has not taken much work or that comes already half broken or torn, perhaps it is not even necessary to consider keeping it. So far it may seem easy. More complicated is the next step: evaluate the rest of the things and decide to keep only a sample. And this selection, according to Förster, is better done with the child, although it is surely more difficult. She justifies it, on the one hand, for a matter of respect. Sometimes there are things that for families do not seem important or that they do not like, but, on the other hand, for children they have value. Therefore, it is better to listen to them. Besides, that they themselves have to choose also ends up being a learning experience. What can help, she says, is for children to have a spatial reference. If they know that only what fits in a specific space can be kept, it will be easier for them to understand the need for selection and also to make decisions about what to keep.
What do we do with the selection?
Once the selection has been made, this organization expert suggests "displaying them". That is to say, having a small box to store some things can be a short-term solution, but the best thing is to find a place where the crafts you have stored are visible. In this way, children perceive that their work is given a place and value.
In the case of drawings, you can opt for a corkboard or a magnetic board, for example, hung in the child's room or in another area of the house. The selected drawings can be hung there for a while. There are also frames with storage that allow one drawing to be displayed and others to be kept behind. And make changes when the child wants. According to Förster, they themselves often get tired of them after a while and want to change them. Other options to make drawings "visible" are to make a collage with some parts and hang it, collect them in albums that are kept handy for occasional consultation, or make postcards to send to relatives or friends.
And what do we do with three-dimensional crafts?
It is more difficult when crafts have three dimensions: figures made of playdough, cardboard clay, or recycled materials. In this case, the option that Förster recommends and that she has used at home is to dedicate a small shelf or bookcase to display them. This way, children see them, but they also understand that space is limited and that, if they want to keep others, some will have to be removed. If this is done, "initially they can be kept in a box, but with it being very clear that after a while we will get rid of them," she explains.
And one last piece of advice that Förster always gives is to take photos of everything when it arrives home and is in good condition, especially when they are pieces made of playdough, clay, or some material that deforms or breaks easily. Just this gesture is perceived by children as a sign of interest from their parents in their work. In addition, it allows keeping a memory if the piece ends up being damaged and, even, creating digital or paper albums to preserve them.