We're Teaching Kids to Make Things. Are We Teaching Them What to Keep?

They come home from school with a backpack full of artwork. Paintings, drawings, construction paper creations, and projects they've proudly worked on throughout the day.

If you have young kids, you know the drill.

And of course, they want to show you every single one.

We celebrate their creativity. We tell them how proud we are. We hang their masterpieces on the fridge, prop them up on shelves, and eventually move them into a drawer, a bin, or a growing pile of things we haven't quite decided what to do with.

And then tomorrow, they bring home more.

We're really good at encouraging our kids to create. But are we teaching them what to keep?

Not Every Masterpiece Needs to Be Kept

As a professional organizer and a mom of two young kids, I know firsthand how quickly children's artwork can accumulate.

And I also know how much guilt can come with deciding what stays and what goes.

After all, they made it. With their little hands. At an age they'll never be again.

But here's something I think we need to talk about more often: We can appreciate something without keeping it forever.

That's an important lesson for adults, but it's an equally valuable one for our kids.

When we save every single creation, we aren't necessarily teaching our children to value their work. Sometimes, we're simply teaching them that everything needs to be kept.

And over time, when everything is special, it becomes harder to appreciate the pieces that really are.

Giving Kids a Seat at the Decision-Making Table

One of the things I love most about working with families is helping children become active participants in managing their belongings.

That doesn't mean asking a five-year-old to make every decision about their bedroom or expecting them to suddenly become a minimalist.

It means giving them opportunities to practice.

• Which artwork are you most proud of?

• Which one would you love to see hanging on your wall?

• Which pieces remind you of something special?

  
  

These are small questions, but they help children develop the ability to make decisions, recognize what matters to them, and understand that letting something go doesn't take away from the joy of having created it.

And that was a big part of the inspiration behind The Keepsake Edit: PD Day Edition.

A PD Day With a Little More Purpose

On October 9, we brought The Keepsake Edit back to IKEA Burlington, this time with a special twist: a parent-and-child PD Day edition.

Instead of another activity that sends kids home with more things for parents to find space for, we invited families to bring artwork they already had and turn it into something new.

Together, parents and children selected pieces of artwork, cut out their favourite details, and created one meaningful collage that could be proudly displayed at home.

It was creative, colourful, and wonderfully personal.

But what I loved most was that the kids weren't just making something.

They were making decisions about what mattered to them.

They had a voice in what was included, what stood out, and how their finished piece came together.

And parents got to experience their children's creativity in a completely different way, not as another stack of papers to manage, but as something they could celebrate together.

The result was a beautiful piece of art that tells a story about their childhood, without needing to keep every single piece of paper that helped create it.

The Lesson Doesn't End When the Collage Is Finished

You don't need to attend The Keepsake Edit to start having these conversations at home.

In fact, I'd encourage you to make them part of your family's regular routine.

Here are three simple ways to get started:

1. Give artwork a designated home.

Whether it's a drawer, a folder, or a keepsake box, create a defined space for the pieces your children want to save. When that space starts getting full, it's an opportunity to revisit what's inside together.

2. Let your kids choose their favourites.

Rather than deciding everything for them, invite your children to pick a few pieces they feel especially proud of. You might be surprised by what they choose, and why.

3. Celebrate the process, not just the product.

Sometimes the joy was in making the artwork, not keeping it. Take a photo, ask your child to tell you about their creation, or simply enjoy it on display for a little while before letting it go.

The goal isn't to raise kids who don't get attached to their belongings.

It's to raise kids who understand that memories, creativity, and joy aren't dependent on how much stuff we hold onto.

A Little Less Paper, A Lot More Meaning

I'm so grateful to the families who spent their PD Day with us, creating, connecting, and giving new life to artwork that might otherwise have remained tucked away in a drawer.

A huge thank-you to IKEA Burlington for welcoming us back and providing such a wonderful space for families to gather, and to Greenhouse Juices and Mabel's Labels for adding some extra fun to the experience.

The Keepsake Edit is quickly becoming one of my favourite ways to bring the wellnested philosophy to life.

Because creating an easy-to-tidy home isn't about getting rid of everything.

It's about making room for the things that really matter.

And I think that's a lesson worth teaching our kids.

Want more practical ways to manage the things that come with family life? Follow along with wellnested living co. for realistic decluttering tips, family-friendly organizing systems, and future events.