Time Capsules

When I was in 2nd grade, my amazing teacher, Mrs. Reid, allowed us to create our own time capsules.  We brought in coffee cans for our capsules.  She spray-painted the cans and then we got to decorate them with super cute stickers to personalize them.  We stuffed them with drawings, writing samples, pictures, Q&A sheets about our interests, etc., and other work from the year.  She taped them up with packaging tape and told us we couldn't open them until we graduated from high school.

Here's my dinky little time capsule from 1991:  (Of course, it looked much nicer when I was 7 years old.  Most of the super cute stickers were torn off when I ripped away the packaging tape.)

Oh well!  It's full of fun memories!  I love seeing my 2nd grade handwriting and reading the funny things I wrote.   

 

I've cherished my time capsule and knew I would continue this tradition when I had my own classroom. 

Every year, I have students bring in coffee cans...I spray paint them...and we stuff them with various things from the year.  I've decorated them in many ways throughout the years, but recently started adhering our class picture to the can.  This year, I'm thinking of adding thumbprints to the cans and have each child sign their name next to their thumbprint. 

 I'll attach a note to the top, reminding the students not to open their time capsules until they graduate from high school.  Then, they will open their can and reminisce about their last year of elementary school.