How to Organize Your Child's Art Supplies and Artwork

Children love to draw and make art. There are many different art papers and supplies with which young children can make art and create a mess if not organized properly. Here are some easy storage solutions for organizing your child's art supplies and artwork.

Clipboards

Clipboards are great for storing loose drawing papers, such as standard sized printer paper or construction paper. Your child can use the clipboard as a flat solid surface for drawing their masterpieces in places that a surface may not be available such as in the family car. When your child is done drawing you can hang the clipboard on a nail above their drawing desk or in the area where they make their works of art.

Three Ring Binders

Three ring binders have long been known to be a great organizational tool. Three ring binders can be the solution you are looking for to organize your child's art work and drawing papers. After your child has drawn quite a few masterpieces you can weed through their art work and select a few for showcasing in a three ring binder. The binder can act as your child's "artist's portfolio" allowing them to share their works of art with family and friends.

Three ring binders can also serve other purposes as well. You can punch holes into blank printer paper and construction paper and store them in a three ring binder. Your child can draw pictures on the papers in the binder and you can later eliminate the ones your child doesn't wish to keep. Once some of the papers have been taken out or all of the paper has been used, you can add more paper to the back of the three ring binders for your child to draw on.

Three ring binders can also come in handy when making your own coloring books for your children. There are many websites available which feature free printable coloring pages. You can print out a variety of coloring pages for your children to color on and store them all in a three ring binder to act as a homemade coloring book for your child.

Tin Can Storage

Empty, clean tin cans are great for storing items such as pencils, pens, scissors, markers, and crayons. Children can decorate the outside of the cans using several different methods.

Stickers: Children can cover the entire outer surface of the tin can using stickers. Alternatively, children can place one big sticker on the outside of the can, or a big sticker on each side of the can. Stickers can also be used to create a decorative edge on the tin can.

Create a Label: Children can create their own labels for the tin cans by using a piece of paper cut to size. Mark the tin can with a dot using a permanent marker, this will be your starting point. Place the tin can on your paper and draw a starting line, the length matching that of the tin can. Place the tin can on the paper making sure the dot is aligned with the starting line drawn on the paper. Rotate the tin can until the dot appears aligned with the paper on the opposite side and draw your ending line. Use a ruler to draw two lines, one on top and one on bottom, connecting both the starting and ending lines to form a rectangle. Cut the rectangle out and have your child decorate it as they please. Once your child is done decorating the label, attach the label to your tin can using glue or double sided tape.

Magazine Clippings: Magazines are full of colorful images which make great decorations for tin cans. Have your child look through several old magazines and cut out pictures of objects that they like. Glue or tape these pictures onto the side of the tin can to decorate it.

Silverware Trays

Old silverware trays can be used to organize your child's drawing supplies. Silverware trays come with several separated compartments making it easy to organize pencils, pens, markers, paint brushes, and other drawing utensils. Once your child's drawing utensils have been organized in the silverware tray you can tuck the tray into a drawer to store them.

CD Art Gallery

If you don't have a lot of space to store your children's works of art then this idea may appeal to you. Using a digital camera, take pictures of your child's artworks and then upload them onto your computer. When taking pictures of your children's artwork be sure to use the date stamp feature on your digital camera in order to record the date the picture was drawn. If you aren't able to take a picture of the artwork on the same day, write the date on the actual work of art or on a piece of paper you place above or below the artwork. This way you can be sure to remember the age of your child when they completed their masterpieces. Once you have enough works of art transfer them onto a CD-R disc. Label the CD-R disc with the contents, for example "Jimmy's Art January 2008", and store them in a CD wallet.

When organizing your child's art supplies and works of art make sure to weed out any broken or worn out art supplies and works of art that do not need to be held onto. Make sure to go through the art supplies and art work with your child at least once a month to keep their supplies and art work from cluttering your home.