When the families at Momentous School fill out vision statements, we ask them to think ahead about their wishes and dreams for their child. This is a powerful activity. We all want our children to be kind and successful, and yet we often don’t fully articulate those visions.

One way to do this same activity at home is to build a time capsule. You can write a letter to your child about your hopes and dreams for her. Have her write a letter to her future self. If not insightful, letters from kids to grown-up versions of themselves are always funny! And you might glean some great wisdom from it as well.

In the time capsule you can also include favorite quotes or inspiration, and pictures or stories about the child at this moment in time. (“Right now you are four years old, and you love your monkey! You carry him with you everywhere you go.”)

Seal the capsule up and save it away. Tell her that you’ll open it up when she graduates from high school. Way down the road, when you do open it up, you can check in and revisit your dreams and hopes for your child as she begins her journey into the adult world.