keeping art projects

megann831

DD is in daycare now so she's been bring home some art projects.  I know at one point I had seen something like a folding portfolio where there is a pocket for each year that you can store art work.  Does anyone know what I'm talking about or where I can find one?  Also, most of what she brings home is just scribbles, very few things look like anything.  How are your 2 year old's projects?  She's been going there since September and only a few things she made at Christmas look like they had the kids do anything with a purpose, everything else is just like they gave the kids some stuff and they glued it to a paper or scribbled with crayons and markers, sometimes paint.

logoz80

https://www.amazon.com/Lakeshore-Learning-Materials-Childrens-Portfolio/dp/B004ZAKXIU/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=CB856E8TW6UQ&coliid=I1H06TCSH6NKU5

1026pumpkin

One of my friends suggested taking digital pics of anything you feel bad tossing, and store the favorites in a portfolio folder like PP linked to.  We also send some to the grandparents periodically or use them as wrapping paper for grandparents.

Art Teacher

You might find a portfolio like that at a Teachers Supply Store or try an art supply company like Nasco or Sax Art.

Your daughter is right on track for being a 2 year old and having much of her work be scribbles.  It should be scribbles.

It sounds like your preschool is child-centered and is concerned about the PROCESS of making art, not the PRODUCT.  That's a very positive thing and it does have purpose.  You want kids at that age to not have to worry that their work looks like something in particular...you want them to experiment and try things.  Using markers, crayons, paint, etc...those are all good things. 

When I see projects coming home (or done by other students) that look very 'cookie cutter,' I know that the teacher did most of the work (ie. cutting out the shapes ahead of time, etc.) and that the kids may not have really had much input into the creation of the art.

I'm an art teacher, and I have a 3 year old.  So I see it from both sides.  Here's a link to a guide that will kind of give you an idea of where your child should be at:

https://www.learningdesign.com/Portfolio/DrawDev/kiddrawing.html

Like I said, it sounds like your child is doing fine.  The only thing I would suggest (if you feel that maybe she needs to work on shapes, lines, etc.) is to sit with her and draw.  Take time - even if it's 5 minutes a day - and just sit with her.  Show her how to draw basic shapes...that will lead to her putting it all together to make actual pictures and eventually to make letters and write.  Have a ton of scrap paper available to her along with markers, crayons, stampers, stickers, etc. so that she can be creative when she wants to be.  We have a cabinet in our dining room filled with that kind of stuff and my daughter knows she can go to it at any time.

 

MNgirl326

Everything goes into a bin and then about every 6 months or so I go through the stuff and pull out a few that I like the most and save those.   Other items I take pictures of and then toss.  

The holiday projects I have actually separated out and packed them away with the holiday decorations and I get those out and hang them up on the fridge at Christmas time.

 

Art Teacher

Forgot to add...while I am keeping some of my favorite projects, I'm taking digital pics of a lot of them.  My plan is to make a book on Shutterfly with them.  That way I'll have a record of them but not have to store so many.  I also have some paintings of hers in frames and hanging up around our house.  I also send a lot of her art to family.

 

08summerbride

We don't keep much at all. I only really save a few things that she has made using body parts (hands or feet), that show how big she is at certain stages. She made a cute hand print and foot print ground hog picture with a poem for ground hog's day that I think we will put in a little frame in her toy room, and I saved a hand print christmas wreath she did, but other than that most stuff gets tossed after a few weeks on the fridge.  I will save some things with the 1st time she writes her name on something, or a picture she draws once it resembles more than scribbles, but seeing my monther in laws basement FULL of stuff from DH 35 years ago has totally kept me from being pack rat

Linz-E

I have no suggestions for portfolio but Ive been taking pictures of art projects and will eventually just make a photo book out of them. Saw the idea on Pinterest. 

artmamasays

It is great that they are letting the art be child led at her daycare. As someone else mentioned, it sounds like she is right where she should be developmentally.

A couple suggestions:

Set up a display area where the art is rotated. After displaying, choose only your favorites to keep or document them. That way your child sees that their work is valued, but also addresses the problem of keeping everything.

Create a silhouette out of construction paper to go over / around a scribble - like a heart or an animal. This will give the piece that 'finished' look that we as adults love but without imposing on your childs creative freedom.

Mail it! We do this all the time. My DH is the youngest of 7 so there is no shortage of aunts, uncles, cousins, etc that love getting personalized artworks. Kids also love getting and sending mail

meg1974

My 18 month old comes home with projects that were obviously done by the teachers, with a little involvement from the children (i.e. an elaborate pic that includes their hand print). I do like a few hand and foot print pieces for memories, but overall I prefer things that DD does all by herself. Even if it's scribbles, it's better to me because it's her actual work without anyone helping. 

meg1974

I forgot to add that I keep the ones I like the most. The others we give as Christmas presents to all of the family members. They really liked them, and that way I didn't have to throw them away. 

saturdaynightdoubletree

We have seperate drawers in our file cabinets for our kids. My mom saved a bunch of our stuff from when we were little in big plastic totes.
As far as the quality of work, it depends on the daycare. My kids are in a three day a week preschool which is very educationally based. They don't often color with crayons and markers, but when they do it is often scribbles or layers or circles. DD is just finally getting to the point where she pretty much stays within lines and colors different areas different colors in her coloring book pages. They do a lot of water colors, finger paint, stamps, glue, hand and foot and thumb prints, etc.