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Written by: Lisa Salem
Another school year passes and your child is sent home with a giant bag full of arts and crafts, projects, and assignments they worked on – but what on Earth are you supposed to do with it all? Some parents may want or feel obligated to keep the majority of it, while some just want to hold onto a handful.
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There really is no right or wrong answer, but one thing to remember is that you should never feel guilty for not wanting to save every little thing your child creates. Use these five tips below as a guide to help you determine what and how much to keep, and ways to store and organize these memories, so when you want to reminisce on them, they will be easy to access.
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\n- Consider how much storage space you have to allocate. One of the first things you should do is determine how much extra space you have to work with, so you can plan where these items are going to live. Memorabilia can quickly take over your home, so dedicating a specific space for it is ideal to keep it organized, and prevent it from overflowing into other areas. Storing these items in a space where they are easy to access is also a great way to set limits on how much is realistic to keep. Ask yourself if you really want to be filling up your home with box after box if the items are just going to be buried away on top of each other somewhere in your home, difficult to get to when you want to reminisce on them. If you plan to utilize space in your basement or garage for memorabilia, opting for plastic totes instead of boxes is a great solution to avoid any potential water damage to them. Another thing to keep in mind is that even if you do have a lot of extra space to work with, you should never feel like you have to utilize it all just because you can. It’s always great to practice keeping things more intentionally.
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\n- How to decide what stays and what goes. The decision-making process is the next step, and often the most difficult (especially if your child is still quite young) as everything they create when they are little just feels so precious! On the other hand, there always seems to be so much of it coming in, and it’s never a bad idea to set limits. As new stuff comes home from school, begin by sorting items into categories by type of memento – drawing/craft/ schoolwork, etc. Once all items are sorted, you can create piles for ‘keep’, ‘let go of’, ‘recycle’, and ‘toss’. Questions to consider when deciding what to keep include: is the item creative or unique, or just a simple drawing or assignment? Challenge yourself (or your child) to only keep the pieces they spent a lot of time on or any that are meaningful, as opposed to ones that are more basic (drawings that just contain scribbles or shapes, or an easy math test, etc.). Keep on the lookout for duplicates as well, like numerous drawings of the same dinosaur, etc. Consider hanging onto only a small amount of school journals (these can take up a ton of space!) or assignments they did exceptionally well on. For larger craft projects/dioramas, etc. sometimes just taking a photo is enough! You can create a scrapbook or a digital album out of these, so you still have the memories without the need to actually store these items.
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\n- Work alongside your child to sort through items. Once your child is old enough, consider working together with them to sort through mementos. Something I do with my own children is I get them to choose their favorite pieces, and I choose mine. I gently let them know that as much as I love all the things they create, we simply can’t keep everything. They each have one small storage tote allocated for their mementos and at the end of each school year, we collectively go through the bin again to pare down items we no longer feel the need to keep, if any, and then sort through the new school year items and add those in. The bins are kept in their rooms, and we can easily reminisce on them since it’s such a minimal amount that we keep. Something to think about If you tend to favor keeping everything – your child will more likely be inclined to do the same. If you challenge them to let go of things, it's a great opportunity to teach them about making their own decisions, and can also encourage you to let go of more stuff as well!
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\n- Storage and organizing solutions. There are so many different ways you can store memorabilia. Some of my favorite products to use are memory bins (plastic totes that you hang file folders into, then label them by category/year/etc.) These can also be personalized with your child’s name for a creative touch! One of the reasons I favor these is due to their size – they can hold quite a lot but are still small enough to move around easily when you need to access them. It’s always best to opt for smaller boxes or bins, as paperwork can become quite heavy to haul around. Another great solution is to purchase a craft storage tower (Michael’s carries some awesome ones!). These units contain a bunch of smaller drawers that you can store numerous categories into, and then you can label each bin.Scrapbooks are also a fun way to showcase your child’s artwork or school photos, or you can even just use a basic filing cabinet. If you have the extra space, cube shelves can also be converted into memorabilia storage by simply adding bins and labelling the contents. You could also categorize paperwork into magazine files or binders and store them in the cubes. Another idea is to utilize any empty cubes to store sentimental clothing or toys. Whatever storage solutions you decide to go with, just make sure to measure the spaces first to ensure a good fit.
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\n- Maintaining the systems after completion. Once you have set up an ideal storage solution for your memorabilia, make sure to maintain it so it stays organized! As new items come in, try to add them to their specific categories as soon as possible, so they don’t pile up. Go through items as each school year passes, and if there are any that you or your child are no longer attached to, feel free to downsize them to create space for new items!
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Lisa is a mom of two and a Trained Professional Organizer. She is the owner of Light at The End of The Clutter Professional Organizing Services in Calgary, AB. For more information, visit her Instagram page at – Light at The End of The Clutter – or her website – lightattheendoftheclutter.com.
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