46 LONGISLANDPRESS.COM • JANUARY 2022
FAMILY & EDUCATION
DISNEY+ STAR AND YAYDAY PAPER CO. FOUNDER AMBER
KEMP-GERSTEL ON HOW TO SAVE KIDS’ ARTWORK
continued from page 45
Kids have been back at school for four
months now, and so have the workpages
and artwork. How do you decide
what to keep? What are some craft y
tips on saving the work that makes
the parent edit? When your kiddos
come home from school with handmade
projects, it can be tough to toss them
into the trash. Thankfully, there are
some creative ways to preserve those
creative memories and conquer the
pressure to save every single thing.
Ask for your child’s input. You’ll be
surprised at how many projects they’re
happy to discard. They don’t always
have a strong emotional attachment
to those projects and they can easily
let you know which ones they can say
goodbye to. Additionally, you’ll learn
a lot through this process about which
projects do have a special place in your
child’s heart, and those creations will,
in turn, become even more special to
you.
Make a memory book. Once you’ve decided
which projects are special and worth
keeping, use a large three-ring binder
to save them. In our home, we like to use
a binder for each school year. Inside the
binder, I insert a bunch of page-protector
pockets, then slide each project into the
pocket. When you’re done, you have a
fun way to fl ip through all those projects.
Outsource it. Life gets busy and it’s
okay to enlist a little help sometimes.
There are several apps and websites
that off er services to memorialize your
child’s artwork into a professional book.
Services like Artkive or Plum Print are
awesome resources for saving those
special handmade creations.
Can you share creative tips to showcase
kids’ artwork? I think the easiest way to
do that is to provide seasonal or themed
craft ideas that can be repurposed as
holiday décor. For example, this Lucky
Leprechaun Trap or this Valentine’s Day
Kaleidoscope could become staples for
the upcoming winter/spring holidays.
Some of my favorite holiday decorations
that we use year aft er year were made by
hand by my son. It’s also a fun way to get
into the holiday spirit, whichever holiday
that may be, and spend some quality time
with your little one.
Is it okay to recycle your kid’s artwork?
Are there ways to creatively do this?
Artwork itself may be diffi cult to recycle,
but you can certainly create more
sustainable artwork by using upcycled
items from around your house. My son
loves Juicy Juice, and we always have extra
bottles and juice boxes around the house,
so we use those, along with other items
we already have at home, for craft s. It’s as
simple as putting some paint, construction
paper, and/or googly eyes on an item to
give it new life. Some of our favorites are
these Tissue Box Dinosaur Feet, this Bottle
Bird Feeder and Bottle Planter.
This story fi rst appeared in New York
Family.
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Amber Kemp-Gerstel
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