New Years Time Capsule Ideas ( + Free Time Capsule Printable for Kids)
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New Year’s Eve is quickly approaching and will be here before you know it! One fun family tradition to start for New Years Eve is to make a time capsule with your kids.
What better way to start the coming year than to look back on what you’ve accomplished and the incredible events that happened this past year. We’ve put together some New Years time capsule ideas plus we’ve included a free time capsule printable for kids and teens. Add this to your list of perfect New Year’s activities for kids or year in review.
We will go through how to make a time capsule, some questions to ask when making one, and finally some ideas for what your kids can include in their time capsules.
⭐️ Grab your free Time Capsule for kids printable at the end of this post.⭐️
What is a New Year’s Time Capsule ?
A New Year’s Time Capsule is a tradition where you and your children get together and pick pictures, writings, memorabilia, resolutions or a summary of the past years favourite events.
Typically, the New Year’s time capsule is buried or hidden somewhere and won’t be opened until the new year has come and gone once again.
This usually happens on New Years Eve or New Years Day, but can really happen any time of the year. Anything goes into a time capsule so it is really fun for the whole family to make!
The idea behind it is that you want to document what has happened in your life over the past year, and put it in a time capsule to open in the new year. Kids always love making things with their hands, and this is an extra special way to make something you can share for years to come.
How To Make A New Year’s Time Capsule
There are two main ways to make new year’s time capsules; a physical or digital one.
Physical Time Capsule
The traditional way is with a physical time capsule. This usually consists of putting mementos into a container and sealing it on New Years Day.
You can either bury or hide the time capsule, and then open it again next New Years Eve (or new years day) of the following year.
If you celebrate Christmas a great idea is to put the time capsule with your Christmas decorations, so you won’t forget to bring it out at the end of the year.
Digital Time Capsule
The other way is to create a digital time capsule.
This means you take pictures or videos of yourself and your family throughout the year, and compile them into a digital time capsule that can be watched or looked at on new years eve (or new years days).
Both ways are really fun, and just depends on what your family prefers.
We personally like making a physically time capsule as we can include souvenirs from our travels and events from throughout the year.
⭐️ For photos we or put together a instead.
New Year’s Time Capsules Ideas
Your time capsule can be anything from a small container, art tubes, to a large box. It just depends on what you want to put in it! Here are some ideas for your time capsule container
Stainless Steel Time Capsule – if you plan on burying it
Pictures and videos are the most common things included in a New Year’s time capsule, but you could also include: newspaper clippings, drawings, tickets stubs, postcards, or any other special mementos from the year.
One tip. If you are including a photo or video, make a list of everyone who is in the photo or video, the date it was taken, and what is happening in the picture/video, so you don’t forget in the future.
Digital time capsules can be really fun because your family can add to it year after year, and is less to pack and move around. This could include new pictures, videos, or even just a written account of what happened iny our lives over the past year.
No matter how you choose to do it, making a new year’s time capsule is a fun tradition that your family can enjoy for years to come! Happy New Year!
4. Time Capsule Questions to Ask
When making a New Year’s time capsule with your kids, it can be really fun to ask some questions to get them thinking about what they want to include. Here are some questions to get you started:
- What has been your favourite thing about this past year?
- What was the most challenging thing you faced this year?
- What new things did you learn this year?
- Which of your goals did you complete this last year? If so, which ones? What are your goals for the new year?
- What were some of the highlights of your year (special events, trips, etc)?
- Who were some of the people that impacted your life this year?
- What were some of your new year’s resolutions for this past year? How well did you stick to them? What are your resolutions for the New Year?
- What acts of kindness will you do this year?
- What do you want to be when you grow up?
- Who are your friends?
- What is your favourite color, food, hobby, movie / tv show, animal, season, book, toy, place you traveled this year
The possibilities are endless when it comes to questions to ask your family when making a new year’s time capsule.
These are just a few suggestions to get you started! Enjoy creating memories with your kids as you document the past year together.
5. Time Capsule Ideas: What to put in a Time Capsule
What to put in your time capsule really depends on the size of your capsule, and your imagination. Here are a few ideas to get you started:
- New Year’s Resolutions – Take New Year’s Eve selfies of your family and make new year’s resolutions for the new year. Place in your time capsule
- Writing Letters To The Future – what you think will happen this year (or if you aren’t opening your time capsule for many years, what you think life will be like in 5, 10, 20 years)
- Pictures of your family from throughout the year. For a digital time capsule, compile them into a video or slideshow.
- Draw a picture or write about what you think makes a perfect day, then make it come to life next new years day
- Keep small mementos from trips and events throughout the year like ticket stubs,
- Photos or videos of your kids doing hobbies, sports, playing their musical instruments
- Traced handprint or footprint
Free New Year’s Eve Time Capsule Printable
If you are anything like me, you realize time flies and how fast your kids are growing up. Wishing you could freeze time and remember all those funny, silly, and crazy moments that happen as a family.
This printable New Years Time Capsule template will help you remember what your kids favorite things were, your most memorable moments, and their dreams for the future year after year.
New Year’s Time Capsule Ideas (+Free printable Time Capsule Template for Kids & Teens
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