A simple system for saving your kids' artwork

A good system is one you'll actually keep up. This one is four small habits — no scanning sessions, no spreadsheets.

1. Photograph as it arrives. Art comes home in waves. Keep your phone near where it lands and take a quick, straight-down photo of each piece (our photographing guide has the details). Do a few at a time, not a yearly pile.

2. Save it somewhere made for it. Upload to Canvasy instead of letting photos drown in your camera roll. Each child gets their own gallery, so everything is in one place you can actually find later.

3. Label as you go. Tag each piece to the child who made it and add the date. It takes seconds and it's what makes the next part possible — looking back at one child, or one year, and turning a year into a book or poster.

4. Share on purpose. You choose who can see each piece — just you, your family through a private link, a group, or everyone. Keep most of it for yourselves and share only what you mean to. By default your child's first name stays off public pages and out of search.

That's the whole system: snap, save, label, and share only what you mean to. Do it little and often, and at the end of the year you'll have a complete, organised record of your kids' art — and a book to show for it — without ever having set aside an afternoon for it.