How many little masterful works of art do you currently have in your home? Whether your child attends preschool or kindergarten or is home schooled, arts and crafts are a natural part of any curriculum. What do you do with these masterpieces? Most are proudly displayed on refrigerator doors. But you can take it a step further and create clever displays for your child’s art work. The best part of course is that your child can help you with this special little project in your home.
* Designate a wall just for your child’s art work and make a simple ‘bulletin board’. Make a background in a contrasting color from the wall itself where you can attach your child’s pictures, paintings, color or worksheets etc. so that their work will stand out. Use letter cutouts to write your child’s name on the background. You can change the theme to go along with the season/holiday etc.
* Put your child’s art work in frames. You can either buy inexpensive wooden frames from a retail store or get craftier and buy unfinished frames that you and your child can decorate together. Make mats from construction or craft paper for extra flair. These also make great little gift ideas for grandparents and other family members. Put your child’s name and age on the front left corner so everyone will know the artist.
* Everyone with little kids has paintings and worksheets on their refrigerator. How about planning a simple craft project with your child? Look for large plastic clips, preferably with magnets on the back, and using either a colorful permanent marker or a paint pen, write your child’s name on the front of the clip. If you need to add a magnet to the back, you can find different size magnet strips or discs with adhesive on the back in most craft stores.
* Kid’s bedroom doors are a great place to display their art work. Rather than just taping the paper to the door, make a banner and hang it up. Your child can help you attach yarn to a dowel rod (about a foot long) and then tape their current art work to the dowel.
However you choose to display your child’s art work, always praise your child and truly admire their work. Take pictures of the displays themselves, and as you replace each piece of art, remember to save some for scrap booking memories. Years from now, as you look back you’ll have sweet memories of your child through their art.