Children are prolific artists, producing treasures at home, school and preschool every day for you to admire and display.
Kids' artwork can start to pile up over time though, seeing bookshelves, fridges and walls overflowing with creative output of all shapes and sizes. If you're looking for new ways to display kids' artwork and stay on top of the mound of masterpieces, read on.
Follow their lead. Many creations have a colour palette you can tap into with soft furnishings.
FIRST, SORT IT
School holidays or the end of the year is usually time for a good tidy up and cull. First, sort through what you'd like to keep. Be ruthless – only keep significant pieces. It may help or hinder the process to do this together with your child. Keep only the most precious or impressive masterpieces to make room for next year's creative crop.
1. FRAME IT
For the Peoples' Choice pieces, invest in professional framing so they're kept safely. Kids wall art can be expensive so why not get a good quality frame and hang it on your walls to tap into the steady supply your child is producing? Alternatively, affordable frames from IKEA or Kmart will suffice for some time.
Kids wall art can come from within - curate, frame and hang the creations as they come. Photo: Getty
2. HANG IT
Kids wall art doesn't have to be a painting on paper. Get creative with a coloured garland and sparkly pegs to hang kids art from - whatever their creations! Double up several rows in your kids' room if you have the space, or line your walls with cork tiles or pegboard for an ever-changing pin-up gallery.
Mix and match bought and handmade artworks for an interesting display. Photo: Home Beautiful
3. MAKE PLACEMATS
Laminate your kids' artwork made on paper and at the dinner table or craft area. A great way to use art every day, these will wear and age naturally with use, ready for the next lot!
There's a never-ending supply of drecorative kids wall art on hand! Photo: Getty
4. STORE IT
Use large folders and dedicated art binders to store your children's art away. This can include keeping certificates and reports in a safe place. Portfolio books – available from art stores in large formats, have bound protective sleeves and can be stored flat. Use plastic sleeves to slip in A4 and smaller artworks. Pop them on the bookshelf for enjoyment by you and your children in the years to come. Store chronologically or, if you're a keen scrapbooker or super-organised, you might add tabs with events or date dividers. Remember to cover the binder in a particularly fetching piece of art!
No matter the age, colour and craft keeps it visually interesting. Photo: Home Beautiful
5. DIGITISE IT
Phone apps such as Keepy allow you to organise, save and share your kids' artworks in digital form. Memories, artworks, photos and mementos can be stored and features added such as timelines, narration and web galleries. Look online for companies who provide a service where you can send your selection to be made into a hardbound book, or scanned and saved digitally.
6. SEND IT
Share the love and post your kids artwork creations to a relative or loved one who will appreciate some kids' wall art in their life. Package carefully or use a postal tube if needs be to roll it up and ensure it arrives safely.
7. USE IT
Large pieces of kids' artwork make wonderful wrapping paper and is a lovely way for your children to contribute to gift-giving. Enlist their help to choose which artwork suits the recipient and carefully fold and wrap it around the gift. Tie with a matching ribbon and voilà! Smaller sized creations can be folded or glued to heavy cardboard to make gift cards.
8. TOSS IT
Be strong! It can be hard to part with creations but, particularly when storage space is limited it's important to cull the collection as much as possible. Remember your child will continue to create in the coming years so keep handy a large, stylishly covered box for storing day-to-day treasures in the meantime.