In 2024, Children's Design International Collection (CDIC) partnered with the Office of Community Engagement at McMaster University. A team of researchers conducted a unique study in which 113 families from every Canadian provinces participated.
The Children’s Design International Collection is a registered charity dedicated to the preservation of artwork created by children around the world. The CDIC’s mission is to collect, classify, preserve, and exhibit children’s artwork, with the broader goal of educating the public on the social, historical, educational, and psychological significance of children’s artwork. They are primarily interested in child-created pieces of significance, not just those perceived as high-quality and created for the specific purpose of contribution to a collection.
Children's artwork holds untapped potential for understanding social, cultural, and developmental aspects of childhood, yet it remains undervalued compared to adult created art. This study aimed to identify motivations and barriers influencing the preservation of children's artwork and contributions to the Children's Design International Collection (CDIC) archive. Understanding these factors is crucial for the CDIC to increase archive submissions, thereby enhancing its ability to educate the public on the significance of children's art and preserve it for future generations.
As of 2026, CDIC preserves and cares for over 560 original items from the 1940s to today. The entire collection is accessible online.