Just as soon as spring has sprung, our thoughts turn to summer. For parents of school-age children, this means the end of the school year is in sight. Bookended by back-to-school and end-of-school-year time is a whole era—each grade with its distinct lessons, friendships, activities, awards, art projects, and extracurriculars. So many memories!
All the best moments of the school year—the look of pride on a child’s face when they’re applauded on stage, the heart and soul (and so much glue) they put into that rainforest diorama, and the obsession with monkey-bar races at recess—are easily forgotten. But there are some wonderful ways to safeguard those memories.
Related: Best ways to preserve spring break memories
Why do end-of-year memories fade faster than you think?
For kids and parents alike, transitional milestones like the end of a school year seem unforgettable. But we do forget, and soon!
To figure out why end-of-year memories are so fleeting, we chatted with Dr. Christie Chung, Cognitive Psychologist and Provost at Palo Alto University. We asked Dr. Chung, why do school-year memories compress or fade, even though they feel so significant at the time?
Dr. Chung likened the end of a school year, and similar transitions, to a chapter break. During this pause, our brains condense routine experiences into meaningful summaries. “Small, everyday moments that once felt vivid, especially the repetitive ones, aren’t encoded as strongly in memory, so they can be harder to remember later unless we make an effort to revisit them,” said Dr. Chung.
Next, we asked what kinds of school memories are most easily forgotten by parents. The answer: Milestones and big emotional memories are more readily preserved, “but from a memory science standpoint, it’s the everyday details that are most at risk. The routines, the handwriting, the daily rhythms of a child’s life are foundational to identity, yet the brain is less likely to strongly encode them because they feel repetitive and less distinctive.”
Moving on to memory-preservation projects, Dr. Chung explained that when children are involved in the process of documenting their own memories, this is “narrative identity formation,” which strengthens recall and emotional connection, even years later.
Dr. Chung explained, “The act of selecting, reflecting, and telling their story strengthens both encoding and emotional meaning. From a cognitive perspective, these memories become more durable because they are actively generated, not passively experienced.”
What should you capture before the last day of school?
As the end of the school year approaches, you probably already have plenty of photos that capture your child’s amazing memories. But there’s still time to take more pics and complete a well-rounded collection for an end-of-year memory book.
As Dr. Chung explained, everyday details from day-to-day life at school are easily missed. So in addition to photos of milestone moments and big celebrations, be sure to capture the following:
- Artwork, drawings, and special projects, which you can either photograph or scan.
- Candid shots of your child playing with their friends, reading, studying, getting on or off the school bus, or just hanging out.
- Handwritten notes and cards such as greeting cards, invitations, and school work samples.
- Certificates, awards, or notes from the teacher that celebrate your kid’s achievements, progress, or personality.
- Milestone markers such as your child’s height, their favorite things, and what they want to be when they grow up. You can note these down to add to your photo book, or create visual props for a fun end-of-year photo shoot.
- Little details you'll forget by August, such as your kid’s backpack and lunchbox, their favorite hairstyle or outfit this year, their once-shiny, now-scruffy shoes, sports equipment, collection of art supplies, homework folder, etc.
- Classroom features, such as your child’s desk, displays of art and projects on the wall, the classroom fish tank, reading corner, etc. (Ask their teacher if it’s OK to take these photos.)
How do you organize a year's worth of school memories?
The thought of organizing a whole year of school memories, plus extras to capture end-of-school-year activities and milestones, can be overwhelming. It doesn’t have to be.
A 2025 Mixbook survey revealed that nearly half of Americans have more than 1,000 photos saved on their phones, and only 25% regularly declutter their digital spaces. Focusing only on photos from the past school year is a great way to get going on this.
An end-of-year memory book is the perfect project to combine the task of photo organization with something fun and creative. Your child can help out, too, while reliving and sharing their memories at the same time.
Organizing by month vs. theme
Start by creating a folder, whether it’s on your phone, computer, a data stick, in cloud storage, or elsewhere, just for school year memory photos. Call it something like “Emma 4th Grade.”
Next, drag or copy every photo related to school year memories into that folder. Go through all your devices, apps, group texts, and school-related media until you’re confident you covered every possibility. Don’t worry about organizing, deleting, or favoriting at this stage—just gather.
Now it’s time to organize the chaos in a way that makes sense to you. Creating subfolders for each month of the school year, or perhaps each trimester, is a sensible option. You could also organize photos by theme (and still sort by date within those collections), such as:
- Academics
- Extracurriculars
- Friends
- Art and projects
- Holidays
- Family
- Miscellaneous
Consider the format for the school year memory book you’re making. If you’re going to create pages or two-page spreads around themes, sort your photos thematically. Many Mixbookers go for a hybrid approach, with thematic spreads featured within a broader chronological order.
Photo by Gerardo Vazquez-Garcia
Digital backup basics
Once you have all your school-year photos in one location, take a moment to backup the files to cloud storage or an external drive.
Here are some additional digital spring cleaning tips for photo files and more.
What to print vs. archive
Curating a collection of school-year photos to feature in a book is perhaps the most fun part of the project. Not all photos are print-worthy, so you’ll need to make some decisions and probably do some digital decluttering, too.
Start by favoriting the standout, must-include photos in your collection. Most devices offer a clickable heart or star icon for this. Select the ones that make you declare “I love this photo” out loud. The hilariously adorable crayon drawing of the family dog. That obscure costume you stayed up late stitching in time for “dress like your favorite book character day.” The best gap-and-gown graduation portrait.
After highlighting all the top-tier pics, move on to the next best ones. Aim for a balance across months and themes, and make sure all their friends, teachers, and other important people are included. While you’re doing this, delete any duplicates, unusably blurry shots, and other duds.
You’ll now have a distinct “print” collection and a larger “master” collection of school-year photos. Upload the print collection to Mixbook for your photo book project, and archive the master collection in your preferred digital storage space.
How do you involve your child in the process?
When it comes to id’ing and preserving the most important memories of the school year, your child knows best. Look through the “master collection” of end-of-year photos together and pay attention to their reactions and stories.
Photo by Artempodrez on Pexels
Younger kids (4-7)
Ask questions about what’s going on in the photos and make notes so you can incorporate captions and stories into the book. Does Mrs Thompson sing a catchy song about the six-times table? Write it down! Ask what your child remembers about back-to-school night (“they had free donuts!”) or who was the kindest kid in the class. These detailed memories are easy to forget, but can spark school-year photo book ideas that your kid will treasure forever.
Older kids (8-12)
Older kids probably have stronger opinions on which photos to include in their memory book. They know better than you which friends and experiences are most important to them, so let them choose most of the photos. You can also browse photo book themes together, consider which content ideas you both like, and collaborate on easy customizations like changing background colors, switching fonts, and decorating pages with stickers.
Tweens (13+)
Tweens and teens are generally capable of creating their own Mixbook from start to finish. Mixbook Studio™ tools are intuitive and easy to use, and this age group tends to have their own opinions on aesthetics. However, it can still be nice to work on a shared project together. Let your kid lead while offering guidance and suggestions as needed.
5 end-of-year memory project ideas that actually get finished
The best end-of-year memory project ideas are those that you and your child will actually revisit in the future. They encapsulate the lessons, friendships, and memorable experiences of a distinct school year. These ideas don’t only preserve memories; they celebrate them. Take inspiration from these five family memory projects, and then brainstorm similar ideas your own
1) Make an end-of-year photo book
Photo books are so much more than just collections of favorite photos printed on pages. They’re lovingly curated images, words, graphics, and aesthetic designs that come together to tell an important story. Photo books preserve the most important milestones and everyday moments of our lives alike.
If you’re looking for the best way to preserve end-of-school-year memories, which you surely captured on camera, put together a school memories photo book. It’s a growing trend in photo book ideas, as more and more parents are seeking meaningful end-of-year memory projects for kids.
According to Mixbook's 2025 year-in-review data, education photo books grew 39% in the past year, making it the fastest growing category on the platform. Plus, the month of May is one of the peak project creation months outside of the holiday season.
School year photo book ideas capture a chapter in a child’s lifelong journey of learning, socializing, and growing up. Think of them as a hybrid project that’s part personal yearbook, part year-in-review, and part family archive. In fact, browsing Mixbook’s education, year-in-review, and family photo book categories is a great way to spark your own idea for a unique end-of-school-year memory book.
Look at design styles and content prompts to see what appeals to you and your kid. For example, Mixbook’s most popular theme in the US, the Everyday Modern Family, offers a clean, uncluttered look.
You might prefer a colorful scrapbook-style theme, such as the Cheerful Days Kids Yearbook by Oh Joy! You can also take ideas from one theme, like the Halloween and “Highlights of the Year” spreads in the Classroom Book by Crayola, and recreate them in a more modern-style photo book, like the Minimalist Year in Review.
Above all, making a school memories book is a great project to work on with your kid. It gives them a chance to reflect on everything they’ve loved and learned this year. It also gives your child a tangible, personalized keepsake that celebrates each school year.
2) Create a time capsule
End-of-school is a great time to review photos, but also all the personal memorabilia your child has gathered during the year. A great way to preserve the memories is to create a time capsule out of special items that represent the year’s most treasured memories.
Preserve the collection of items in a shoebox, storage tote, or another suitable container. Help your kid write a letter to their future self explaining the school year’s memories associated with the items.
Examples include:
- Pieces of school work
- Art projects
- Medals or certificates
- Sports team gear
- Pictures of their favorite celebrities, bands, or athletes
- Favorite hair accessories or small items of clothing
- Photo prints
3) Interview your kid
An amazing way to preserve memories at the end of a school year is to interview your kid—on video or in a written Q&A format, if they prefer. This could become a family tradition that you repeat at the end of every school year. Ask questions like:
- What was your favorite subject at school this year and why?
- Tell me about your teacher…
- What did you love about 7th grade? And what did you not love?
- Who were your best friends this year?
- What are you excited about for next year?
- Where is your favorite spot in the whole school?
- Tell me what you like to do at recess…
- What’s something funny that happened at school this year?
Tip: Copy some of the best Q&As into your school memories photo book as a fun text element.
4) Document “then & now”
“Then and now” comparisons are always extra meaningful for school-age kids who grow and change so quickly. Whether it’s part of a photo book spread or something to share on social media, it’s fun to find pairings of photos and memories from a school year that fit the format.
You might compare height lines on a growth wall from the beginning and end of the school year. Or ask the same questions at the end of the school year as you did on their first day e.g. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” A first-day-of-school pic with perfectly done hair and a nice outfit looks amusing next to a last-day-of-school photo of your kid trudging out of the gate, shoes untied and looking happy but exhausted.
5) Digital memory archive
Create a digital archive of photos, scanned memorabilia, and other media from the school year to keep on hand. This not only keeps the memories of the year organized and accessible, it allows you to declutter all the physical counterparts from your home. Yes, you can discard the crumpled papers, fragile arts-and-crafts sculptures, report cards, and more, safe in the knowledge it’s preserved in digital form.
Plus, the files will be ready and waiting any time you want to make another photo book.
FAQs about end-of-school-year memory books
Here are the answers to Mixbookers’ most frequently asked questions about making end-of-school-year photo books.
When should I start an end-of-school-year memory project?
May is the most common month for starting an end-of-school-year memory project. It’s an ideal time because parents and kids are all anticipating the end of the school year, and perhaps feeling a little emotional about how quickly it’s gone by. Starting the project before summer break also means you’ll have time to take additional pics to fill in any missing parts of your photo collection, and also capture any end-of-year activities and milestones.
How many photos should I include in an end-of-year photo book?
It’s up to you! A typical photo book includes anywhere from 50 to 200 individual photos, but it’s possible (and easy) to add fewer, or many more, than that.
Mixbook’s photo books all start with 20 pages as standard. However, you can print a book with as few as 10 or as many as 399 pages. Each page can accommodate from one to 8+ photos, depending on the layout you choose. Options range from full-page pics to multi-thumbnail collages. For visual interest, most photo book themes vary the number of photos featured from page to page.
What is the best way to preserve kids' school artwork?
Whenever it’s possible to do so, the best way to preserve kids’ artwork for a photo book is to scan it using a flatbed scanner. Use a resolution setting of at least 300 d.p.i. for the best results.
Check out our comprehensive guide: How to preserve your child’s artwork forever.
Other options include smartphone scanning apps and standard photographs taken with a phone or camera. You might have your kid hold up their artwork and pose with it for a photo, or paste the artwork on a gallery wall that you can photograph.
What do I do if I barely took photos this year?
If you barely took any photos this school year, the good news is that other parents, teachers, and educators probably took tons, and will be happy to share—you just need to ask! Search the school’s social media and parent-sharing apps for suitable pics. Ask other parents. Ask your own family members who might have attended school events or taken photos of after-school activities. Plus, you might have some forgotten photos hiding in cloud storage or old devices.
How do I make a school memory project kids actually want to be part of?
The best way to get kids happily involved in a school memory project is to give them decision-making power. Involve them in choosing photos for a book, describing the memories associated with the photos, and talking about the best things about the past school year.
Also consult, or assist, your kids in making photo book design decisions. Let them pick the color palette, fonts, or stickers. Browse themes together and go with their favorite. Show them how to customize the book in Mixbook Studio™.
How long does it take to make an end-of-year photo book?
The most time-consuming part of making an end-of-year photo book is gathering and organizing your photos. The timeframe for this step varies considerably. However, creating a custom photo book can be done from start to finish in less than an hour. Time-saving tools like Auto-Create and Auto-Layout mean you can go from concept to completion in just a few clicks.
Many Mixbookers do like to spend more time on customizations, though. It’s often a good idea to save and revisit a project in multiple short sessions. Mixbook internal data, 2025, shows a trend among parents for starting memory projects on weekends and finishing on a Monday.
There’s still time to capture memories before the end of the school year!
As the end of the school year approaches, many parents have half a mind on summer, and the other half reflecting on the recent past. Wasn’t it just yesterday that your kid excitedly picked out their shiny new backpack, which is now hanging on by a thread? And you only just figured out how to spell Mr. Brzezinski’s name!
Embrace the sweet side of this bittersweet milestone by making a school-year photo book. This special project ensures the memories won’t be lost, because they’re all preserved in a beautiful keepsake.
Start their school-year story
