I am a huge fan of art, craft and drawing (as you possibly know if you read my blog regularly) and when John Lewis Insurance asked me to share my favourite drawing of what matters most to my children it was a hard, hard job as I love pretty much everything they produce for different reasons.
I love the act of making art and nurturing children’s drawings and one of the wisest things that I was told is to never ask what a drawing is, but to ask
“Tell me more about your drawing”
So I took this opportunity to go through my boys artwork and let me tell you there are loads of pictures of the things they draw, but not that much in the house as we gift a lot and also recycle it. I only keep certain piece, but photograph the rest.
Displaying Kids artwork in your home
So I have decided to share with you how we display the boys artwork round the house.
- We have a gallery in the kitchen where we display loads of their makes on curtain wire from Ikea.
- I use 3D models in place of artwork around the home.
- We use washi tape to display artwork on walls and doors (rotating them often).
- I take pictures of their artwork and then get collages printed.
- We add to notice boards around the house.
- We use magnets to pop in on the fridge.
- We make bookmarks from it to recycle it.
So I asked the boys to pick a one of their current pieces and explain why it matters most to them and between them they chose this lion that Maxi drew. Both the boys adore animals and wanted to raise money for the WWF, so Maxi drew this lion for a poster at school to help raise funds.
Would you like your childs picture turned into a piece of artwork?
Take a picture of your favourite piece of artwork by your child on the theme of what matters most to your child and upload it to the John Lewis microsite (John Lewis Insurance competition page) with just your name, child’s name/age and your email. The winners artworks will then be worked up by a professional illustrator (Emily Woodard) into a really cool piece of art. The original and illustrators impression will then be framed alongside each other as the prize. Please see the John Lewis site for full terms and conditions.
thats brilliant as kids know that they are praised for what they do and it makes them carry on having fun with painting
I love how you have their art work and tools on the wall, it looks fab and is a great idea! x
I shall definitely use “Tell me about your drawing”, it’s a brilliant way of not upsetting them if you’re not sure what it is! We have art work up mostly in the kitchen and I store all their favourites in plastic wallets to keep and use in scrapbooking.
Such great ideas. I love the wire hanging system, but we have no room for it. Taking photo’s is a fab idea x
Your Commentsgreat idea i have 7 lil ones and they come home daily with their artwork and i never have room to put it all
These are great tips. I love making art and crafts myself (I don’t have kids), but usally after scanning or taking pictures, the crafts end up in a box under my bed.
Brilliant tips 🙂 We’ve washi taped loads to my son’s wall after he read Miffy the Artist, he always refers to it as ‘My very own gallery’ like Miffy does 😀
What great ideas! It is hard to let go of them isn’t it. I take pictures of all of my children’s and put them on a page on my blog! I really like the curtain rail idea.
We have our children’s artwork everywhere just like you. I can’t help it, I love to display it for all to see.
I also use the tell me about your picture if I’m not sure of what it is (which is often).
I love how crafty your posts are – and I also love how crafty my girls have become. Its just so easy to get a piece of paper and pens out to keep them occupied (I’m going to try and pretend I didn’t see Tara draw on the dining room table earlier!) That elephant is solo cute – no wonder you use it as an ornament! x
We have a board in the kitchen but its not big enough……I love the peg line idea
I love the idea for having your own art gallery , great idea.
What a lovely idea. I put the kids pictures into scrap books
I also use the ‘tell me about your picture’ trick, but I love your idea of taking pics of the kids’ work and making it into a collage. Will give it a try.
I use our giant fridge… you can never see its real colours. It is always covered in art 🙂
Wow the lion is brilliant! love it! I also love the gallery idea of hanging the pics 🙂 x
Love th lion! Our playroom is covered in their art, and when it getsswqpped for another piece it gets stuck into a scrapbook!
I am loving the lion, some gorgeous pieces and lovely ways to display them 🙂 x
Brilliant idea! I should start keeping Amelias and do something similar i think. x