In the Spring we’re always thinking ahead to the end of the year. Even if it still feels a long way off, it always gets here sooner than we’re ready for!
If you’re looking for a meaningful activity to do with your students and their families this year, try a time capsule! I’m sharing what you need to know about ideas for making a time capsule with your students this year in the classroom.
Create a Time Capsule
A time capsule is such a fun way to take a snapshot of exactly who our students are at this point in time. You can include anything you want in a time capsule!
Student writing samples where they journal about their favorite things, pictures of them and their families, and small items that represent their interests and what life was like for them during this year are just a few examples to include.
As a recap, here are some ideas for what to include in a student’s time capsule:
- Journal entry about favorite things
- Pictures of them
- Pictures of their friends and family
- Drawings of their favorite activities
- A handprint
- A letter from their parents
- A string to represent their current height
- Fun items they love, and more!
Keep reading for more ideas. 👇
Send it home at the end of the month or the end of the school year and tell parents to save it until their child’s high school graduation! It will be so fun for families and students to look back at the things they said and thought when they were little!
I love to include their handprint + a string that represents his/her height at the time.
Can you imagine how small that will look in 11 years when your former student opens this up?
Parental Involvement & Letter to Child Example
If you have the time to orchestrate some parental involvement, I recommend getting parents and families to add to the time capsule! The idea is that our students won’t see these time capsules again until they are almost ready to go out into the world.
Send home the included parent letter about what the parents hope their students will accomplish when they go out into the world, or how proud they are of them, is such a sweet thing for our students to see when they are seniors.
Time really flies, and chances are the parents of our students won’t remember all of the things they felt when their kids were in first grade. This is a great way to get your families involved!
I’ve also included a pre-made teacher letter for you to pop into the time capsule, too!
Related: Last Day of First Grade Activities
Time Capsule Done for You
Do you love the idea of making a time capsule with your students, but you are short on time? I have one completely made for you. This time capsule project includes all of the printables that you will need for students to write on.
It also includes labels that fit perfectly on a Pringles can or a skinny round bottle. Print the activities and have students complete them in class.
You can also ask parents to email or send in some pictures that you can print. Then, roll everything up and put it inside of the can.
Send it home and ask parents to keep them in a safe place for the future.
Time Capsule Ideas for Students Recap
A time capsule is the kind of gift that will have parents and students emailing you about a decade from now! What a sweet reminder of their time in your class! Grab the pre-made time capsule here!
Happy teaching, everyone!
What other time capsule ideas do you have for your classroom? Tell me in the comments.
