CHILDREN'S ARTWORK PRESERVATION

How to save and organize those precious drawings and crafts.

Your kids grow up so fast, and their colorful drawings and works of art are precious reminders of their childhood. Take stock of all the papers, crafts, finger paintings, and noodle art now before the mice and moths get them, and before you forget who made them and when. Anything shoved in a box or under a bed will be ruined over time. Year after year goes by and every day your child makes pictures and drawings with markers, crayons, pencil, pen, glue, and tape. They trace their hands, and make all kinds of things from their experiences and imagination.

Before you forget the details of each work of art and they get older, take the following steps now to protect these pieces of self-expression:

Organization: Sort It, Name It, Date It

For the pile of artwork you already have:

1. Sort them: by year, by child. Decide what to keep, what to toss, and which to send to grandparents, aunts, and uncles.

2. Decide what you do not want to keep. Take a picture of those you don't want to keep. Use the non-keepers as wrapping paper, gift cards and tags, scratch paper, or kindling in the wood stove. Throw out the rest and move on.

3. For the keepers, write the artist's name and age and on each one. Additional information would be: where the art was made, and what the circumstances were i.e. On a rainy afternoon at Grandma's, Sally made this after a large hot chocolate and popcorn snack.

Write this on the back of the work of art, or on another piece of paper. Do not use tape, staples, or paper clips because these will damage the art over time. Tell the story of your children's lives using their own work of art. Their creations will be the props for their memories as they get older and more interested in looking back. Unfortunately, children don't remember much of their young years, so you have to fill in the blanks for them. Use their own hand-work to help you.

Storage: Long-Lasting Solutions
Shoe boxes, wet basements, and attics are all dangerous places to store items that can easily be damaged by nature. Bugs, mice, and water are invasive elements that can ruin forever something you love. Children's art is highly attractive to these forces of nature because they are mostly on paper and made with edible, organic materials, i.e. glue, beans, pasta, paper, and yarn. Your children's work deserves simple, effective storage solutions.

To help you get started, Legacy Cottage has put together a kit of archive-quality materials, ready to use. Each kit can be reserved for one child, and their various two- and three-dimensional arts and craft creations can go inside, for long-term safe keeping.

CHILDREN'S ARTWORK PRESERVATION KIT AVAILABLE NOW

Each Children's Artwork Preservation Kit includes:

-..1 museum-quality acid-free storage box (12x15x10") to store everything together safely
-30 sheets white acid-free 81/" paper, acid-free tissue paper, to wrap, line, and protect
-15 large clear polyethylene storage bags (12x15"), for storing crafts with macaroni, glue, etc.
-15 small clear polyethylene storage bags
-..5 black matts frames (opening 81/2x11") for showing off a masterpiece
-..1 professional archive-grade fine-point black marker for writing names, dates, & notes
- .1 box label to identify child's name(s), dates, and contents

Children's Artwork Preservation Kit - $89.95 (plus shipping)

For questions, please send an email now to mimi@legacycottage.com.

Legacy Cottage is owned and operated by professional historian, Mimi Clark. With a master's degree in Public History, Mimi has over 20 years of experience working with historic documents, artifacts, and themes in a variety of settings, including museums, historic sites, photograph collections, and film companies across the country. With each project, Mimi brings a professional approach and joyful curiousity to the discovery, presentation, and care of precious keepsakes and personal histories. Legacy Cottage is a one-stop resource for the materials needed to collect, share, celebrate, and store family stories and mementos.

Mimi Clark is a member of the National Council on Public History. The public need for the best historical information and analysis motivates every undertaking of NCPH. The council believes that the study of the past provides the soundest basis for making intelligent choices on how to resolve the problems of the present.