. . .then, fill it with artifacts!

Imagine you are sending a "gift" to yourself in the future. Here are ideas for things that may help you remember what your life was like in 1999 or 2000.

Fad items

Remember Cabbage Patch Kids dolls? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles? Pogs? Ask your mom or dad if they had a Pet Rock in the 1970s or a "Baby on Board" sign from the 1980s. They were everywhere! Now they're hard to find. Do you think Pokmon cards will be hard to find 10 years from now? Or what about:

- Key fobs (trinkets you hang on your backpack)

- Beanie Babies

- Fast-food toys

- Sunday comics section

Personal facts

Write a letter to yourself. Tell about your hobbies, describe your favorite outfit, your favorite meal. Make some predictions about what you'll be doing in the future. Won't it be fun to see if your predictions come true? Try these ideas. (Be sure to label and date each item.)

- Floor plan of your house

- Tracing of your hand or foot

- Self-portrait

- Drawing of your family

Photographs

Put some photos (check with your parents first) into an inexpensive, pocket-size album with "acid free" or "PVC free" pages. Include pictures of:

- Your neighborhood

- Cars driving by (your family car, too)

- Your tennis shoes, maybe?

Paper items

In the future, the front page of an old newspaper will be a time capsule in itself. It's a snapshot of what happened on a particular day. Hairstyles, clothing fashions, and what people were thinking and talking about can be seen. Or how about:

- A comic book

- A pop-culture magazine

- Catalogs

- Letters or postcards

Stubs and receipts

Prices change. Did you know a first-class US stamp cost 15 cents in 1980? What do you suppose it will cost 10 years from now? Some other ordinary items you might include:

- Grocery bill

- Toy-store receipt

- Fast-food receipt

- Movie-ticket stub

Recordings

Use only high-quality audio or videotapes. Label them, and keep them in their original cases. Talk to yourself in the future! Tape yourself singing or telling jokes. Record your favorite songs. With videos, use the "slow play" setting. Have someone interview you. Video your room, your school, your pet. (Recording formats may change over the years, but there are certain to be companies in the future to rerecord your tapes.)

Things NOT to include

- Candy, food, or any liquids (like a pen full of ink)

- Glass or very fragile items

- Anything you might want to get out!

(c) Copyright 1999. The Christian Science Publishing Society

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