Every year, there are two points where I find myself nose-deep in my planner, surrounded by donation bags filled to the brim: the start of a new year, and the start of a new school year. While New Year’s Day marks a fresh calendar, the run-up to back-to-school proves to be just as important a moment to set goals and declutter. I’ve always loved tracking my year around an academic calendar — I went from high school, to college, to becoming a mother at a young age, and the back-to-school season has always felt like its own kind of new year.
While summer is a great time to take a break, relax, and enjoy the outdoors, the weeks before school starts are the perfect window to clear out space in your home and in your schedule, setting you and your family up for a successful year. This doesn’t need to be overwhelming or expensive. The truth is, once you complete the task of decluttering, you’ll likely find a mound of empty baskets, a pile of unworn clothes you thought you’d need to replace, and no shortage of school supplies that can be reused.
This is the Back to School Refresh Challenge: a journey to declutter your space, write out a plan for back-to-school shopping and new routines, and get organized for a successful school year, one week at a time.
Back to School Refresh Challenge — Week One: Declutter Closets and Toys
Reminder: don’t purchase storage containers or organizing tools yet — save that for later in the challenge, if needed.
This is the week to roll up your sleeves, get ruthless, and ask yourself the important question: “Do I love this?”
Every summer, when the kids are away or routines loosen up, it’s a good time to declutter their closets and toys. This helps you decipher what each child needs for the new school year (think underwear, socks, uniforms, etc.) and refresh their space.
Do you ever feel overwhelmed when you’re surrounded by clutter? Imagine how our children feel. Kids aren’t born knowing how to clean a room or keep a tidy space — it’s a skill we teach them. While we try our best to encourage a tidy room throughout the school year, the truth is they’re most likely stuffing toys under the bed, hiding small game pieces in bags, and tossing unmatched socks in the back of the closet. The pile greets them every morning, and there’s nothing more refreshing than a cleared space to help clear a mind.
During this process, ask: “Do I love this? Is this serving my child well? Does this still fit? Does it encourage their imagination?” If the answer is no to any of these, let it go.
Clothes
Focus on closets and toys this week (yours too, if you have time), and set up three piles: Keep, Donate, Toss. Start with clothes before tackling toys. If it has a hole, a stain, or is faded, toss it. If it no longer fits, donate it. If there’s still life left in it, keep it. A good gut-check: if you saw this outfit in a store right now, would you buy it? If not, donate it.
Decluttering isn’t a time to feel guilty — it’s a time to be ruthless, because in the end you’re creating a space that lets your child relax and reignite their creativity, rather than a space that overwhelms them. Their room should be a safe place to retreat to after a long day of school, sports, and homework. As Emily Ley says, “Best, Favorite & Necessary.”
Toys
“How do I know what to get rid of? They love them all!” is a common refrain from moms wondering how to declutter toys. It depends on the age of your child. Ask your older kids what specific toys they truly love and can’t part with, and let that guide you.
For older children, keep items that spark imagination — Manipulative Toys that enhance fine motor skills and teach kids to interact with their physical world, like Magna-Tiles, LEGO, and Kinetic Sand. For younger children, keep Open-Ended Toys — toys not bound to one specific form of play, like peg dolls, scarves, figurines, wooden blocks, and train tracks. If you love every toy your younger kids own, store half in bins and rotate them every couple of months. This sparks renewed interest without overwhelming your space.
Bonus
If you’re feeling motivated, deep clean their rooms: vacuum the closet, mattress, and under the bed; wipe down baseboards, shelves, the ceiling fan, and air vents. You’ll be surprised how much dust collects in these spaces.
Back to School Refresh Challenge — Week Two: Declutter Food and School Supplies
Summer routines have set in, and you’re wondering what happened to your organized refrigerator and pantry, right? With all the movement in your home over the summer, it’s easy to lose sight of a stocked, tidy kitchen.
This week, focus on decluttering the pantry, refrigerator, and school supplies. Have you ever gone back-to-school shopping only to find the extra pencils and notebooks you got BOGO last year? The Back to School Refresh Challenge helps you set a plan in motion while saving money in the long run. There’s no need to buy another bottle of ranch when you already have two in the back of the pantry.
Food
Grab a trash can and some magic erasers, clear out the sink, and put on your favorite podcast — it’s time to get dirty. Take everything out of the refrigerator. If it’s expired, toss it immediately. If not, place items on the counter in sections: meat, dairy, daily use, occasional use (pickles, sauerkraut, etc.), condiments, vegetables. Wipe down every shelf before replacing the items inside. Do the same for the pantry.
School Supplies
There was a time many of us believed every child needed to go back to school with all-new supplies. Back-to-school shopping is something a lot of us have looked forward to since childhood — the aisles of new paper, binders, and lunch containers. But it’s worth noticing how much waste we produce by tossing old supplies simply because they’ve been used. A notebook with only 20 pages used can easily be reused next year: tear out those pages and call it a day. Save yourself the time and the money, and decide what’s truly worth treating your child to — maybe a new backpack, or a pack of freshly sharpened pencils — without overdoing it.
Go through backpacks from last school year. Toss old paperwork, broken crayons, and ripped notebooks. Decide what can be reused and what can be donated. You’ll likely find you can complete much of your back-to-school shopping list simply by “shopping” your own home first.
Back to School Refresh Challenge — Week Three: Set a Game Plan
Now that the hard work is done, it’s time to sit down and be honest with yourself. Take this week to plan out the school year: important dates, daily routines, and shopping lists. Ask yourself the hard questions: “What worked last year? What didn’t? If I could change one thing in our daily routine, what would it be? What do we need to let go of this year? What will make our year go smoother? What do we need?”
Sit down, pour yourself some coffee, and set a game plan. Write out daily routines for your family — morning and evening (full-day schedules if you homeschool). Create shopping lists for back-to-school meal prep, school supplies, school clothes, and closet organizers (if needed), and determine a budget.
Back to School Refresh Challenge — Week Four: Shop
While it’s tempting to “shop until you drop,” the whole point of the Back to School Refresh Challenge is to set your family up for success this school year — and buying all the things isn’t the way to do that. You’ve just spent three weeks decluttering and planning with purpose and intention. The goal is to create a space that gives your child ease to move through their day and find what they need, reignite creativity, and retreat after a long day. Buying anything and everything only adds chaos back into your home. Purposefully choose items your family needs, within budget, that simplify your days, help you stick to routines, and encourage rest and connection.
Back to School Refresh Challenge — Week Five: Organize
We’ve saved the best part for last. You’ve decluttered, deep cleaned, prepared, planned, and sourced everything your family needs for a successful school year. Now it’s time to organize and set new routines in place. Depending on your child’s age, consider labeling baskets and bins, or walking through the space with them so they get to know their newly organized room and are encouraged to keep it that way.
Take a day this week to host a family meeting and discuss new routines, chores, and goals. This can be a special time to reconnect after a busy summer and get motivated for the new school year — bake something, play music, and enjoy the time together.
By the end of this challenge, it will be time for school to start. Take those last few days to enjoy quality time together, get outside, and begin practicing your new routines.
