Your child’s early years are very precious. As a parent, we want to document everything they do, from their first teetering steps to the very first hand-print painting they fetch home from nursery. Digital photos have made it incredibly easy to save a treasure trove of wonderful moments, but if your child is artistically inclined, it is understandable that you want to display their artwork in your home.
The problem is that , and craft pieces in their early years. Kids can be very productive. They love to paint, draw, and decorate all manner of innocuous items, which makes it hard to keep on top of their work. Unless you are happy to have their work displayed on every surface, it makes sense to devise a better way to show off their creative talents. Here are some great ideas.
Create an Art Gallery
Designate one room in your home to your child’s artwork. This could be a smaller room such as the breakfast room or their playroom. You could also designate one wall in the living room if you don’t mind their paintings clashing with the adult décor.
Paint the walls white and invest in a stack of cheap picture frames in all shapes and sizes, from rectangular glass clip frames to . Every week pick a selection of the best works and frame them in a suitable picture frame. Have a plan of where each frame goes on the wall, so the layout remains the same, even though the artwork changes on a weekly basis.
Ask guests to nominate their favorite piece of artwork and give it a gold star. If you have more than one child, you could turn this into a competition, but beware of pitting a child against his less talented siblings, as it will end in tears.
Top Picture Spot
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If you don’t have room for dozens of pictures, nominate a spot in your home for one picture. Everyone has to pick the best picture from a selection of the week’s works and this picture is framed and given pride of place in a central location. This shows your child that although you don’t pin up every painting, you do value their work.
Create a Mural Wall
are a lovely way of introducing some original artwork into a home. Designate a wall for the mural, i.e. in the child’s bedroom or in a playroom, devise a theme of their choosing, and help them plan a design. Mark out the design using chalk and let them color in the mural with acrylic paints. Encourage your child to be creative. Give them brushes, sponges, and anything else that can be used to make a mark.
If you are not brave enough to let your child daub paint all over the walls, paint a section of wall with matt blackboard paint and give them some chalks to play with.
A useful way of dealing with tons of paintings and drawings is to peg them to a string line suspended across the ceiling. You can swap put pictures each day to keep the display fresh.
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