GUIDE
My kindergartner brings home stacks of art and papers, and I can't throw any of it away. How do I keep what matters without bins for the next 12 years?
By the seenow! teamLast updated:
Pick the container before you pick the keepers: one flat box per school year, filled at a monthly sort where your child chooses favorites. Photograph the rest with your child holding each piece, then recycle it. Store the box below 75°F and away from damp basements, garages and hot attics.
WHY
Why this happens
Kindergarten is when the paper really starts. Preschool sent home the occasional painting; now there are worksheets, sight-word pages, class books, and art projects most days, often several at once. Each piece has your child's name in their own new handwriting, and throwing one away feels like throwing away a day of their childhood. So it goes into a pile, then a bin, then a second bin.
The math catches up quickly. If you keep everything from kindergarten, you will be keeping it from first grade, second grade and beyond, and by middle school the bins fill a closet. Put off long enough, the sorting happens years later, when the paper has yellowed, the crayon has smeared, and nobody remembers which piece was the proud one.
A better approach is to decide the limit first. Archives and libraries handle this problem every day, and their advice for paper fits a kitchen-table version: a box the right size, a cool and dry spot, no tape or rubber bands, and labels in pencil. Everything that does not fit in the box can still be kept as a photo.
| Do | Avoid |
|---|---|
| Keep the room below 75°F and relative humidity below 65% | Damp basements, garages and hot attics |
| A box big enough that pieces lie flat, not overstuffed | Folding big paintings to make them fit |
| Acid-free, lignin-free folders or boxes | Rubber bands, tape, glue, paper clips |
| Write names and dates on the back in pencil | Pen or marker on the back of the piece |
Source: National Archives: Storing Family Papers and Photographs / Library of Congress: Care, Handling and Storage of Works on Paper
HOW TO
What you can do starting today
Get one flat box per school year, and let it set the limitNo app needed
The National Archives' guidance says to use boxes large enough for papers to lie flat without folding and not to overstuff them. Choose one box for kindergarten that holds a standard art sheet flat, and label it with the year in pencil. When it is full, the year is full. That rule does the deciding for you, instead of guilt.
Source: National Archives: Storing Family Papers and Photographs
Sort once a month, with your child choosingNo app needed
Keep a single tray by the door where all papers land. Once a month, sit down with your child and go through it together. Let them pick two or three favorites for the box; add one or two you love, like the first time they wrote their full name. Once they see how much has piled up, many kids are willing to let some of it go, and choosing makes them proud of what goes in.
Photograph the rest with your child holding itNo app needed
For everything else, take a photo of your child holding the piece up next to their face. That photo keeps the artwork, the size of the child, and the grin, which a scan alone does not. Do this on sorting day, then recycle the papers out of sight. Put the photos in one album named by school year so they are easy to find later.
Store and label it the way archivists doNo app needed
Put the box on a closet shelf inside the house, off the floor, where it stays below 75°F and relative humidity stays below 65%, the limits the National Archives gives to prevent mold. Write the date and grade on the back of each piece in pencil, as the Library of Congress advises, and skip paper clips, tape and rubber bands. Give chalk pastel or charcoal drawings their own acid-free folder rather than a plastic sleeve, since the Library of Congress notes polyester sleeves can build static that lifts powdery media.
Source: National Archives: Storing Family Papers and Photographs / Library of Congress: Care, Handling and Storage of Works on Paper
WITH SEENOW!
Doing it with seenow!
seenow! is a family app for short videos and photos shared in a private group. Its camera fits step 3 well.
- The seenow! camera can shoot with the front and back cameras at the same time. Point the back camera at the painting, and your child's face showing it off is captured in the same post.
- You can also take a 2-second clip of your child explaining the drawing. Post it to a group of grandparents and relatives you invite, and the art reaches them even though the paper goes in the recycling.
- Each week, seenow! turns the posts into a recap video automatically, so a week of artwork plays back as one short video.
What seenow! can’t do
- seenow! is not a scanner or an archive. Only photos and videos taken with the seenow! camera can be posted, so artwork you already photographed or scanned with another app cannot be added.
- For a printed photo book or a full-resolution record of every piece, keep using your phone's camera and photo library.
Core features are free.
POINT
Things to watch for in this situation
Recycle out of sight
Finding their drawing in the kitchen recycling can upset a kindergartner who agreed to let it go. Take the papers out on trash day or put them under other recycling.
Keep the school records separate
Report cards and teacher notes are different from artwork. Give them their own folder per year, so the memory box can stay about the art.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Where should I store my kids' artwork?
Inside the house, on a shelf off the floor. The National Archives advises keeping family papers below 75°F and under 65% relative humidity, and avoiding damp basements, garages and hot attics.
Is it OK to throw away my child's artwork?
Yes, if you keep what matters. Let your child choose favorites for one box per year, photograph the rest with them holding it, and recycle the paper.