The Ten-Year Letter

Imagine getting a letter from yourself written a decade ago. That's the intriguing premise behind this activity, which is part New Year's resolution, part time capsule. Kids not only get a chance to record their thoughts, but they also--down the road--get the opportunity to revisit their past.

To start, give each child (and grown-up) paper and pens to write themselves a letter that answers a variety of questions about the future: What will they be doing ten years from now? Where will they be living? Writers can add some details about the present: their favorite subjects in school, favorite music and so on. They might also want to make some predictions about the future, such as what kind of cars people will be driving. Then seal the letters into individually addressed envelopes and give them to one person who will act as the designated mailer. In ten years, he or she will pop them in the mail to each addressee. An eight-year-old is bound to be very different by the time he's 18, but we bet that many adults, too, might be surprised years from now to see what they were thinking!