The Best Way to Save Your Kid's Artwork Without Taking Up Space

If you’re anything like me, you keep most of your kids’ copious artwork in one of three places: In an oversized plastic bin to be organized “one day” in the future, temporarily displayed so your child feels proud and validated, or the trash. Though you’re riddled with guilt every time you toss that “thunderstorm” drawing that looks like 12 markers in a fight, or that dramatic rendering of the zombie apocalypse in No. 2 pencil, there just isn’t enough space to keep every masterpiece.

We’ve written before about low-maintenance ways you can save or use your child’s art, from displaying them on an ignored wall and repurposing them into greeting cards, to mailing select pieces to family and creating a private Instagram account for them.

Here, inspired by this TikTok, we share another way to parse down the quantity, but still enjoy the quality of your children’s artwork for years to come.

How to make a “dot painting” of your kid’s artwork

In her video, creator @thecolorfulmother showed her process for converting her child’s work into a beautiful framed art that adds a classy and colorful accent to any room.

Here’s what you’ll need:

After selecting the pieces of art you want to repurpose, begin punching out two-inch circles of color. (It’s worth noting that the best candidates for this project are watercolors—kids’ art including macaroni or feathers need not apply.) Punch to your heart’s content, or until you have a sufficient quantity to create enough rows to fill the matboard. (The number of circles is up to you and will depend on how close you want them together and the size of matboard you choose. @thecolorfulmother created a grid of 7 rows by 11 columns, for a total of 77 circles).

Before gluing, lay all the circles on the matboard in evenly spaced rows. Use the ruler to measure the margins, leaving the same amount of white space at the top and bottom, and along the left and right sides of the matboard. (For extra precision, you can measure the space between each circle to ensure uniform spacing.) Place glue on the back of each circle, adhere them to the matboard, and frame. A beautiful new piece of art is born (at a price of around $50 for all materials, or cheaper depending on the most expensive material, the frame).

The trick is to make sure the young artist in question doesn’t witness the repurposing, or you’ll likely be in for a mountain of tears. They’ll thank you later, after they’ve forgotten about their original creations and can appreciate that they don’t have to sift through 650 pieces of toddler art as a college senior to make room for your new Peloton.