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Ideas for Keeping School Papers As Keepsakes

Many parents love to keep their children's school papers as keepsakes. Knowing what to keep versus what not to keep along with how to store everything safely makes holding on to keepsake school papers more organized and reduces their susceptibility to damage over time. It is possible to keep and display everything from your child's first nursery school hand print to his high school diploma using only a bit of ingenuity.

Determining What to Keep
- When young children start school, we seem to keep everything and hang it on the refrigerator. The time will come when we realize that we need to rent a garage to keep this massive pile of papers in. When this happens, sort it and choose the items of most importance. Any paperwork pertaining to special education should have a safe place in storage. Financial aid paperwork and anything beneficial to a future resume or portfolio should also have a safe place. Lastly, important firsts, such as the first time she has written her name, deserve a special place. As children grow older, allow them to help choose the keepsake items.
Keepsake Album
- Similar to scrapbooking, a keepsake album turns an ordinary 3-ring binder into fond school memories. Using page protectors to hold paperwork and photos, a keepsake album keeps everything safe and easily accessible. For large artwork or paperwork that does not fit, consider a photograph of the child showing off the creation. Several years from now, seeing that photo will make the memory special while paging through the album.
Keepsake Box
- Create a keepsake box using any box of your choice. A plastic sweater box or storage tote is the perfect size and will easily fit under the bed or in a closet. Make a set of rules for what you want to include in the box. One example may include those fill-in-the-blanks type of assignments. Save artwork, hand prints, stories they have written, and other items of significance that make you smile or cry.
Keepsake Yearbooks
- Keepsake yearbooks, available at finer retailers and on the Internet are pre-printed books designed especially for holding onto memories of your child as they venture through school. Commonly published for use from preschool through the sixth grade, most have pre-printed pages with age appropriate wording, photo sleeves, and pockets for memorabilia. These hard-bound books will often feature a wire spiral binding to hold papers secure while allowing plenty of space for all of the extras that parents will normally include.

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