Time Capsule

Each year on our Christmas tree we hang an ornament that serves as our Time Capsule. After reading about a similar activity in The Siblings' Busy Book, I decided to trade in our ornament for a bigger version. We are doing this on Christmas, and I'll wrap it and pack it away with the Christmas decorations. Next year I'll place it under our tree to open as a family.

Ages: Any!
Materials: shoebox, wrapping paper, ribbon and scissors, scale, construction paper, markers, index cards or paper
Directions:
1. Using the index cards or paper, label each one with a member of the family's name. On each paper, record height, weight (optional for adults...haha!), special skills, characteristics, hobbies, funny stories, physical characteristics,etc.

For example, on my toddler's paper I might write: Her hair is long and very curly. She cringes when she sees the brush! She has two small freckles on her right cheek. She is almost ____ pounds and ____ inches tall. She can count to ___ , knows all of her alphabet, but mixes up the letters P and R sometimes. Her favorite song is ______ and her favorite movie is Richard Scary's Counting Video and any Sing-a-long. She loves Frosty the Snowman, but calls him "Tashy." She loves rhyming games, especially rhyming her sister's name.

For a baby: She weighs ____ and is ____ inches long. Barely any hair yet! She has ____ teeth and just started crawling. She keeps trying to pull up to standing, but bonks her head a lot trying this. She loves it when her sister walks into the room. Her favorite person right now is her daddy. She loves saltine crackers and grabbing the dog's ears. She also buries her head in your shoulder, giggling, and pretending to be shy when someone she loves talks to her. She's ___ months old but she wears size ___ clothes.

You can include number of teeth, unique characteristics, favorite toys or foods, things they sleep with, etc.
Trace hands and feet on construction paper. You can also use ribbon to record height, head circumference,etc.
I am going to take a picture of us in front of the Christmas tree and include it in the time capsule.
I also include a paper describing our Christmas that year, like where we went, special events, funny things that happened, what they got for Christmas, etc. One of my favorite things has been hanging on to these papers and reading them year after year. This is what we used put inside an ornament year to year. I have one from when I was 9 years old that I wrote. It's one of my favorite traditions!