Have you ever thought about making a time capsule?
It’s basically a Time Travel Treasure Hunt. You store up several different objects and very securely hide them somewhere for people 20-50-100 years in the future to see.
Here are some time capsule ideas to give the future the best gifts possible. As a warning, don’t put food in your time capsule as it will most likely spoil and ruin your other items too.
How to make a time capsule
Step 1:Purpose
Think about who you want to make it for, why, and when you want them to open it. This will determine the content inside of it and is extremely important. Is it for someone you know, or someone random? Will it be easy to find, or a challenge?
Step 2:Container
After deciding what the point of your time capsule will be, it’s time to find an appropriate container for it. The longer you want to hide it for, the sturdier and more expensive your container will have to be.
Could be a jar, or a fortified box. That will depend on your taste and goal.
Step 3:Content
Now that you know what you’ll do, start putting items inside of your time capsule. The whole purpose of this blog is to help you come up with ideas on what to use.
Step 4:Find a spot
This could be underground or in a house, just make sure it’s a completely safe location and do the proper research to make sure it’s secure yet accessible.
Whether you tell the person where to find the time capsule or give subtle yet strong directions, you want to make sure the place you pick will be reachable in decades from now.
What to put in a time capsule: DIY Time Capsule Ideas
1. A Note
Notes are the most basic thing you can and should use in time capsules. They communicate your message and can be used with other objects!
2. Their old clothes
If you know the person and own their iconic clothes, put them in! Remind them of their style in the past.
3. Your own clothes
You could also use a piece of clothing that YOU owned and is valuable to you. That would show the future generations how people used to dress during your time. Here’s a great example of how to make your own DIY galaxy shoes, and inspire those who find your time capsule
4. Your favorite music
You probably like your favorite album enough to call it timeless. For that exact reason, have a Vinyl, tape or file of the album or songs you like the most from the present.
5. Your favorite books/comics
These could be books that you enjoyed or learned a lot from; old literature is always a pleasure to explore. Physical books are better, as they will be more rare in the future.
6. Your schoolwork
You could also include old homework, tests etc. Let the treasure hunter compare their school and yours to see how much of a difference the decades have made.
7. An item that represents your area
It could be for your neighborhood, city OR country. A mascot, item or object that is symbolic for the place where your time capsule is buried. That way, the legacy of that place will last.
8. A recent invention
Something that’s considered revolutionary now, which people from the future will laugh at. Maybe an electronic device, or just a very new and innovative popular tool. It’s the person in the future that will see if it remains popular or not.
9. A videotape of an important moment in your life
Your wedding, your baby’s first video, your graduation. Could be anything. There are moments that matter equally throughout all generations, so making the comparisons would be fun.
10. Pictures of the area
Take some pictures of the area right around where the time capsule is buried. Let the person who finds it see how similar (or different) that same place is decades into the future. Same territory, before and after.
11. Pictures of other places you’ve been
No one is stopping you from showing off places you’ve been either. Could be from vacation or travel, the most beautiful and memorable destinations you’ve explored. That could remind the future of how those same places looked years ago and create a very big connection between the people of the past and the landmarks they know.
12. Pictures of your favorite people
Your friends, family, relatives. People you care about, and you. Let the future see you all. You could create custom photo gifts that would surprise future generations, and let them in on a lifestyle we had back in the days.
13. A piece of art you made, that’s valuable to you
Could be a drawing, something from your ceramics class, literally anything that you made yourself and are proud of. The people you know love it, but let their children love it too.
Your art piece doesn’t have to be a masterpiece, you can try to make embroidery canvas art using our favorite template.
14. A piece of art they made
This applies if you know who will find the time capsule. They would remember their cute drawings from when they were kids.
15. A family artifact
Again, if your family has one, an item that’s symbolic to them and gets passed down the generations.
16. A rare artifact
This could be something you found treasure hunting yourself, or during a trip. Something ancient.
17. If it’s for your child, their bank account information
Imagine opening a bank account for your kid, slowly growing it over the years and giving it to them when they’re ready. This would give them a head start in their investments.
18. Actual money
Coins, bills. Currency. Since they always change in value, let the finder see what money people used during this time. Maybe they could still be valuable and it’s free money, or maybe they’re completely worthless but collectible. Either way, it could be interesting.
19. Treasure/Jewelry
If you plan to make it an actual treasure hunt and happen to have valuables that you can afford to let go of, then a precious piece of jewelry would be rewarding for the treasure hunter. If you can find anything you are ready to part with, try making your own leather earring using printable templates.
20. Something material you thought you needed years ago, but didn’t
“Here are some shoes that were popular years ago. Now, they aren’t. In your time, they probably have 0 relevance. Moral of the story: don’t put too much care on temporary material trends”
21. Your diary
Your own stories and experiences, of course only if you’re comfortable sharing them with the future generations.
22. A family tree
If you’re making a time capsule for your kid, seeing all their ancestors would be impactful. This would take some research on your part, but it would give them a very in-depth look at all the people that lead up to their birth.
23. Life lessons/quotes
The most impactful quotes that changed your life, that either you, people you know or famous people came up with. Quotes that are timeless.
23. Playing cards
Regular cards, uno, Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh!, any cards you used to collect as a kid because you know very well they were your most valuable possession.
24. Messages from the people around you!
Have some of the people you like or respect write some messages to the future. Involve them. It not only makes for a fun experience with them, but also gives the future people more perspective for your time. This is one of the best things to put in a time capsule.
25. Your favorite restaurant’s menu
Maybe it’s still thriving in the future, maybe it’s gone bankrupt or maybe it’s become world-famous. How would you know? If you trust your favorite restaurant, leave their menu on the time capsule for the future to know their name.
26. Magazine/Newspaper
You could put one of the magazines you follow, or the local newspaper to show some big news that you think people will remember in decades from now.
27. Daily life objects
Kitchen utensils, toothbrushes, quite literally any object you use in your day-to-day life that you think will be replaced in the future.
28. Toys
These could be yours when you were young, your child’s or anyone else’s. Leaving something that was important to your childhood will certainly give people from the future something to look at, especially as more games are going digital.
29. Slang
A list of slang from your time period. It’s absolutely hilarious, you would need that list to keep up and be cool in today’s generation, but people in the future will probably laugh at it and wonder why you thought your current vocabulary is cool. This is one of the best time capsule content ideas because vocabulary is always changing.
30. A list of questions for the future
Everyone wonders what the future will be like. List some questions that you would want answered. Even if you don’t see it, it’s interesting to see what kind of questions people from the past have for the present.
Conclusion
Hope this blog gives you some unique ideas on what to put in a time capsule. If it did, don’t forget to mention us in there.
DIY time capsules are very interesting projects that can take effort, but the point of this post was to help you out on that journey and make it more simple for you.
Giving something to the future is always fun for each side involved, so we’re glad to assist you in that.
