The school year is over! Your child is thrilled about the start of summer vacation. Before it’s forgotten about, follow these 5 easy steps to clean out the backpack and organize all the art and school projects that have come home. The end of the school year is one of the best times to clean out the school year detritus and organize your child’s keepsakes.
- Your child’s backpack is overflowing with old school supplies and completed assignments. Empty all the papers on a table and recycle everything but special writing assignments or otherwise exemplary samples of your child’s work.
- Keep only the best samples of art work, pieces that are original in nature or personalized to your family.
- Save school supplies that can be re-used for next school year. Good crayons, pencils, scissors, rulers, glue sticks, and other supplies can be stored in a large labeled Ziploc bag or a small box.
- Take a photo of art This is a great solution for bulky pieces that won’t hold up well in storage.
- Scan pictures or writing assignments to .PDF to store them as an image or store the letter sized keepsakes in clear sheet protectors in a large three ring binder. Larger art projects can go into an under-bed storage bin.
True Story: A good friend recently moved into a new house. After she finished unpacking all her boxes, her mother shipped to her 18 giant plastic bins all the way from her childhood home in Texas. You guessed it, each bin contained one year’s worth of childhood keepsakes. These were not keepsakes my friend saved over the years, these were all saved by her mom. Instead of representing childhood memories, these bins became a burden. Will your child want 18 bins shipped to them one day? Maybe a thumb drive and a just a few bins will do.