This memento-filled box is sealed shut to prevent early-bird peek sneaking. Designate an opening day (the child's 18th birthday, perhaps), and when it arrives, pull the string to pop the lid off the box. When we assigned the assembly of a sample capsule to eight-year-old Cooper Wall, we had some advice for him: in addition to mementos like ticket stubs, toys, and T-shirts, include some things that don't seem special now but might elicit a "Wow!" in ten or 20 years: wrappers from favorite candy bars, the front page of a newspaper, a TV schedule. Cooper, in turn, had some advice: draw, photograph, or photocopy any items that you want to memorialize but can't bear to part with; keep the real thing, and add its likeness to the box. That's what he did.

Making the time capsule is a three-step, two-afternoon affair that involves filling the box, sealing it with papier-mache, and allowing it to dry overnight before decorating it. After filling the box with memorabilia, whisk together in a large bowl equal parts of flour and water and tear newspaper into a few dozen 1-inch-wide strips. Cut a piece of string long enough to wrap around the box, plus a few inches. Tape one end to the box, just below the bottom edge of the lid, then wrap the string around the box and tape it again where it meets the first end, leaving the remaining string free for the rip cord. One at a time, dip each strip into the paste, scrape off the extra between your fingers, and place the strip on the box. Continue until the box is evenly covered. (Remember to leave the end of the string unpasted!) Allow the capsule to dry overnight, then decorate it with paint, glued-on memorabilia, and a dated label.

WHAT TO INCLUDE

Choose items of personal significance. For Cooper, that was:
•a sample of yellow paint ("from when we got our first house")
•photocopied pages from his Science Investigation Notebook (on liquids, insects, and the formation of the earth)
•the lyrics to "The Lonely Goatherd," from The Sound of Music (one of his favorite movies)
•a draft of his letter to First Lady Laura Bush (among its patriotic sentiments: "I really like being an American because the national bird is endangered")
•a drawing of his woolly mammoth Beanie Baby
•a bandage wrapper ("to remember when I got impetigo")
•his old Harry Potter toothbrush

Don't forget the outside of the box. Cooper decorated his with:
•cutouts of his favorite animals
•the photocopied cover of a Harry Potter book
•a Star Wars ticket stub
•a label bearing his name and the date

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