How to Preserve and Display Your Children’s Artwork
In case you haven’t yet been able to tell, I’m the sentimental type. I can get misty-eyed watching romantic comedies or when someone does something thoughtful for me. That goes double when it comes to my kids! As a mother of two, I can’t tell you how many times I have had to wipe away tears of joy (“Oh my, this is so sweet…you made it for me?”) each time one of my children offered me a gift. (I’ll take the opportunity here to show you one of my favourite masterpieces my daughter made for me… bless her heart!) 
As all parents can agree, there is no greater gift to receive from a child than one he or she created themselves. Everyday that my children came home from school with one-of-a-kind pieces of art was a special one for me. I cherished each and every one of their masterful works of art and went to great lengths to display them for all who entered my home.
However…it didn’t take long for a problem to become apparent. There wasn’t enough wall space in my home to showcase these wonderful art pieces – and new ones kept walking in the door!
What do parents generally do with all of their children’s art?
Storing it all in plastic bins is a popular choice – but it doesn’t do the art much justice. (The same can be said for printed photographs, by the way…but that’s another story). Not to mention, such storage attempts will often serve to damage and decay the materials used to create the works of art. Turning your children’s work into faded, ripped and crinkled remains of once-cherished gifts is no way to honour the legacy of your young one’s efforts.
Tiffany Doerr Guerzon of ParentMap.com hit the nail on the head by saying, “we all love the masterpieces our kids create. But if we kept it all, we’d be starring in the next season of ‘Hoarders’. Creative efforts deserve to be displayed, shared and archived, but it’s hard to keep up when your preschooler churns out multiple pieces per day.”
What is the ideal solution for preserving the artwork created by your children?
Appreciating our children’s artwork also increases the self esteem in our kids. When they see a parents face light up in admiration of their work – they light up inside as well! They feel valued and loved and an increase of self confidence! My quest to find a way to easily preserve and view my children’s drawings helped me to discover one of my most unique services. At PhotoWise, we proudly create artistic photobooks (“artbooks”, if you will…) that are complete with beautifully scanned images of your children’s precious artwork and drawings. I’ve found they are the perfect solution to the “What do I do with all of these drawings and paintings?” dilemma.
We offer a variety of conceptual ideas for artbooks so that you may capture the history of your children’s artistic endeavours. For example, we can create artbook volumes that represent the different stages of school (ie. preschool, kindergarten, grade school) or we can split the book volumes up by age range (ie. 2-5, 5-7, 7-9). Or you could simply include the scanned images in your annual family yearbook! You certainly have options…
At PhotoWise, we use top-of-the-line photo scanning equipment and software that offers high-speed and high-quality scanning. It enables us to professionally preserve priceless family photos, documents, certificates and children’s artwork up to 12″ x 18″. I’d be more than happy to help you sort through your favourite pieces in order to create these special artbooks that will both provide your family long-lasting enjoyment of your children’s art and save you a lot of storage space!
