A Clutter-Free Way to Save Your Child’s Schoolwork

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Here’s a screenshot from the shared album!

Our oldest has been in preschool for a couple of years, and we by no means keep even HALF of what she brings home. I’m sure you're thinking, “How could you!? " And I assure you, the answer is much less heartbreaking than you think.

1. Show it off

   First, we always let her show us what she brings home because honestly, what’s better than when a kid proudly shows off their work?

2. Take pictures

   Then we take pictures of EVERYTHING. Sometimes in groups, sometimes each piece individually.

3. Upload to shared album

   We then upload all the pictures to a shared photo album that we previously invited all our family to.

   In doing this, we have records and memories of everything she’s brought home, and way more people get to see what she’s worked hard on at school than if we just stored the pieces away in a box.

4. Pick the highest and best

   This is the part you thought we would skip to first — we then go through all the pieces and pick out the highest and best to keep in her Kid Box and yes, we throw away the rest. I’m sorry, but we don’t need to keep 7 pages where she traced the same letter. We have pictures of it to remember (:

5. (Optional) Get a book printed

   This next part is optional…We uploaded all the pictures by school year into a Shutterfly book and we got the book printed for her kid box! If you don’t know what I’m talking about when I say “kid box” you have to go read this blog, below is a quick snippet of how we made the box. The small 6"x6” thin Shutterfly book is stored with the pieces we kept by year in her kid box.

I know this likely isn’t for everyone, but we have found so much peace in this method because we can keep all the memories, and not necessarily all the stuff!

How We Put The Kid Boxes Together:

1. Purchased Plastic File Folders

   Each girl received a plastic file folder! (fyi: I’ve linked to Amazon for easy purchase/delivery, but we bought this one in person at Walmart.)

2. Personalized with Vinyl Decals

   I’d recommend going no bigger than 9” wide by 2” tall for the size of the name decal, but measure for yourself. For quick and easy vinyl decal delivery we love monogramitdarling! Hannah, the owner of MonogramItDarling said the following listings would be best for this purpose! Use this link for cursive/calligraphy names and this link for print names. She also said to reach out when you place the order and she can make sure the vinyl isn’t more than 9” wide x 2” tall! AND she gave us a coupon code you can use on your order (TCF15 for 15% off) and it works on the whole shop, not solely the links above 🤗

3. Organized with Old File Folders

   We repurposed old file folders from where we downsized and cleaned out our filing cabinet. We labeled the folders by year to keep everything neat and organized. If you don't have old file folders to use these have great reviews on Amazon.

“Our memories are within us, not within our things.” - The Minimalists