Over the last couple of months, our lives have drastically changed. We have gone from heading off to work, school or child care to learning and working inside our homes. Creating a Quarantine Time Capsule with your family can be a great way to document the time we’ve spent at home together and preserve memories. It can also offer an educational opportunity for our children to observe the world around them, inquire and make connections, and helps them cope with the feelings they are experiencing. Our new reality has not been easy, we are living through history; a history that one day the family will want to reflect on.
How to Build a Quarantine Time Capsule:
1. As a family, choose a container to store your treasures-it can be a jar, sturdy box, etc.- anything to keep them safe and can be sealed. Also make sure to plan for a place to store the time capsule.
2. Next, the family should decorate the container, and add a “Do not open until…” sign. The date chosen can be 5 years, 10 years or 25 years in the future!
3. Together your family should write or draw an introduction to the time capsule-the reason for putting this all together. Some ideas include adding a photo of the family, or a handprint art project with the names and ages of each member, writing a paragraph about who the quarantine was with and how long it lasted, or even newspaper articles included with your explanation.
4. Now for the fun part! Choosing all of the memories you would like to include! What you choose to include in your time capsule is personal to your family. Items could be fun memories, jokes, or sentimental items. The items and memories you choose should have special meaning to you and your family and should reflect your time in quarantine together.
Some suggestions of items to include are:
- Children’s artwork or school work done while at home
- Documentation of children’s successes–ex. Learning to spell their name, properly sorting objects, riding a bicycle or learning to do a cartwheel
- Photos or drawings of celebrations had during quarantine such as birthdays etc
- A list of music, movies or TV shows shared as a family while at home together
- Children can interview parents about their quarantine experience, and vice versa
- Writings or drawings of thoughts, things they are grateful for, dreams or concerns
5. The last thing is to close up the time capsule and tuck it away until the open date!
More resources to help build a quarantine time capsule:
• Free printable time capsule worksheets, see Long’s Creations COVID-19 printables https://letsembark.ca/time-capsule
• Big Life Journals https://biglifejournal.com/
• Creating a COVID time capsule: How to preserve memories from a historical event https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/lifestyles/regional-lifestyles/creating-a-covid-time-capsule-how-to-preserve-memories-from-a-historical-event-451405/
• How to Make a COVID-19 Time Capsule https://www.kidzworld.com/article/31914-how-to-make-a-covid-19-time-capsule