Back-to-School Health Tips for Students, Parents & Caregivers

I like to prioritize creating and encouraging healthy habits both at home and at school. This can help manage your family's holistic health. This can include:

• Daily movement: Whether it's an afterschool program or thirty minutes of playtime at home, let's get those bodies in motion.
• Sleep schedule reset: Start easing into earlier bedtimes a week or two before school starts, so early mornings aren't a shock. Everyone will need some runway to readjust to the school-year schedule.
• Healthy, energy-boosting meals and snacks: Keep nutritious, easy-to-grab options on hand for lunchboxes and after school.
• Disinfect high-touch and high-traffic surfaces: Your home can harbor germs from the classroom on countertops, doorknobs, light switches and more. Clorox™ Disinfecting Wipes are a great option that kill 99.9% of bacteria and viruses when used as directed on hard, nonporous surfaces. With any disinfecting product, be sure to follow the product label instructions to ensure you're using it correctly.
• Stay organized: The beginning of a smooth school year starts with a more organized home space. If you can start the year off with a clean, decluttered space, your family can jump into the school year with more ease.

The positive effects of bringing the whole family into your household cleaning routine can go far beyond aesthetics. The majority of Millennial parents surveyed* (67%) shared that their children show greater appreciation for their home when they participate in household cleaning, and that chores help their kids learn teamwork (61%).

Young learners benefit from predictable routines that help them adjust to school environments. Health tips for preschoolers often focus on basic habits like handwashing, sharing awareness, and transitioning between home and school routines.

Health for kindergarteners includes learning classroom expectations such as washing hands before snacks, staying organized with belongings, and following simple hygiene routines in group settings.

As students grow, their routines become more independent, but structure is still key.

Strong health tips for students in middle and high school often include balancing sleep with academic workload, maintaining personal organization, and managing shared spaces like lockers and classrooms.

College introduces a new level of independence, along with shared living spaces and changing routines. Healthy habits for college students include managing sleep schedules, staying organized in dorm environments, and maintaining personal cleanliness in shared bathrooms and kitchens. Learning how to stay healthy in college often comes down to building consistent routines that support both academic performance and everyday wellbeing.

Establish a routine that works for everyone

A new school year means managing new, hectic and ever-changing schedules for the whole family. I'm talking morning drop-offs, after-school activities, homework, dinner, bedtimes — the list goes on. It can be a lot, but one way to make it all work more harmoniously is to make chores a shared lift.

According to a recent Clorox survey*, nearly all (93%) Millennial parents whose children participate in chores less than weekly or not at all wish their kids were involved in chores more often. However, barriers, such as parents feeling overwhelmed by delegating chores (34%) and feeling their kids will be reluctant to take on delegated chores (34%), get in the way.

Keeping our space clean is most effective when it's a shared family duty. Starting the morning as a team sets a positive tone for the day.

Get ahead of back-to-school shopping

Back-to-school shopping season can feel nearly as hectic as the holiday rush… but for pencils, sneakers and glue sticks. With shopping starting earlier every year, it's best to plan ahead to ensure that you get all the items on your list. This is also a great time to stock up on back-to-school essentials for the home, like Clorox™ Disinfecting Wipes. They're perfect for quick clean-ups of breakfast crumbs and sticky fingerprints, and yes, helping to stop the spread of classroom germs that inevitably follow your kids home and onto surfaces, when used as directed. Make a list before you head to the store so you're not in a stress-producing scramble.

Classrooms are shared spaces where students learn, collaborate and spend much of their day in close contact with others. Because of this, small daily habits can make a meaningful difference in supporting kids’ health in the classroom.

• Washing hands before eating, after recess and after using shared materials
• Keeping desks and personal workspace organized and clutter-free
• Avoiding sharing personal items like water bottles, utensils, or earbuds
• Covering coughs and sneezes with a tissue or elbow
• Encouraging students to use hand hygiene after group activities
• Lightly cleaning frequently touched classroom items at home or school, such as notebooks, calculators and tablets

To support these habits, everyday cleaning tools can help reduce buildup on shared and personal surfaces. Clorox™ Disinfecting Wipes can be used on soft and hard, nonporous surfaces such as desks, backpacks and school supplies. For stain and odor removal on fabric items like cushions and soft surfaces, use Clorox 2™ for Colors Max Performance Bleach-Free Stain Remover according to label directions. Remove product with a damp cloth after treating and let air dry before use.