How To: Organize Kids’ Schoolwork

Purchase as many plastic containers as you have school-age children. Choose deep lidded containers that are big enough to lay schoolwork and standard-size artwork flat. Label each bin with the child’s name and grade. If you wish, you can add the names of classroom and art teachers.

Tip: Select containers that come in different colors and designate one color per child.

When your child comes home with art or class work, simply drop it in the bin, discarding anything you don’t wish to save.

Aha! The only surefire way to preserve your children’s most special works of art is to frame them using acid-free matting and UV-filtering glass.

For items that can’t be saved—dioramas or collages made with food products such as macaroni—and for oversize artwork that doesn’t fit in the bin, snap a photograph, print it, and pop it in the bin.

Tip: Consider asking your child to hold or stand next to the art project you’re photographing. The resulting image will bring back even clearer memories of a particular time in your child’s life.

When the school year is over and you have the time and inclination, open the bin and leaf through everything you’ve saved. You can reminisce while deciding what’s worth saving for good and what can be discarded. When you’re finished, close the lid securely and store the bin with the label facing outward.