The last week of school tends to come home in a pile.
Backpacks stuffed with drawings. Folders full of paintings. Projects you forgot they even made.
It’s meaningful. It’s adorable. And it’s a lot.
If you’ve ever stood at the kitchen counter wondering, What am I supposed to do with all of this? you’re not alone.
There’s a better way to handle end-of-school artwork—one that doesn’t involve overflowing bins or last-minute purging.
Why This Moment Feels So Overwhelming
During the school year, artwork trickles in slowly. A page here, a painting there. It’s easy to hang onto everything because it never feels like too much at once.
But when May and June arrive, it all comes home at once.
Suddenly, you’re holding months of creativity and memories, along with a very real question of where it all should go. Most families either keep everything and deal with the clutter later or throw most of it away and hope they won’t regret it.
Need help on what to keep each year? ✅
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Neither option feels quite right.
The good news is, this doesn’t have to be an all-or-nothing decision. With a simple system, you can contain the volume, involve your kids, and preserve what matters without the overwhelm.
Here’s how to approach it:
Step 1:
Start With a Simple System (Before You Sort Anything)
Before deciding what to keep, it helps to have a place where everything lives.
A lot of professional organizers recommend creating a single “holding place” for schoolwork and artwork throughout the year. This keeps papers from spreading across your home and gives you a clear starting point when it’s time to go through everything.
For instance, Mallory from Hello Happy Home uses a school memory box for each of her kids. As artwork comes home, it all goes into one place. No overthinking, no constant decision-making.
By the end of the year, everything is contained. Nothing is lost. And nothing is taking over your kitchen counters.
This step is not about curating. It is about creating calm.
Step 2:
Let Your Kids Help Decide What Matters
Once the school year wraps up, that is when you go through it—together.
Instead of quietly sorting through everything yourself, invite your child into the process. Sit down, flip through the pieces, and ask them which ones feel important.
You might be surprised by what they choose.
The scribble you almost tossed might be their favorite. The project you assumed they loved might not even register for them.
Mallory follows this same approach. After storing everything in their memory box throughout the year, her kids help choose which pieces should be kept long-term, and which ones are ready to be let go.
It turns what could feel like a chore into a moment of reflection. It naturally narrows things down without pressure.
Step 3:
Preserve It in a Way You Will Actually Enjoy
Here is where most systems fall short.
Even after you have carefully selected what to keep, those pieces often end up right back in storage. Tucked into a box, stacked in a closet, or forgotten on a shelf.
But the goal is not just to save the artwork. It is to be able to revisit it.
Instead of storing stacks of paper, many families choose to turn their child’s artwork into a professionally photographed, custom-designed book with Plum Print.
You send in the artwork, and each piece is carefully captured and laid out into a keepsake book that tells the story of that school year.
The difference is simple but meaningful.
It moves the artwork from something that is stored to something that is experienced. Learn more
Step 4:
Make It a Yearly Rhythm
What works best is not a one-time cleanup. It is a repeatable rhythm.
Throughout the year, artwork has a place. At the end of the year, you go through it together. You choose what matters. And you preserve it in a way that fits into your home and your life.
Over time, this becomes more than organization.
It becomes a collection of who your child was, year by year.
What This Looks Like in Real Life
In Mallory’s home, this process is simply part of the routine.
Artwork is collected in a memory box throughout the school year. When school ends, her kids sit down and choose their favorite pieces. Those selections are sent off and turned into a book.
A few weeks later, they are flipping through something that feels completely different from a pile of papers. It feels finished. It feels intentional. It feels worth keeping.
Ready to Turn This Year’s Artwork Into a Book?
If you are staring down the end-of-school paper pile, this is the easiest time to start.
Send it in. Plum Print will take care of the rest.
Start a Book
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