An hour of choosing and writing, then a whole year of waiting.
What you need
a sturdy box or tin
paper
pens
tape
How to do it
Each person writes a letter to themselves in one year.
Add a prediction: what will have changed, what will be the same.
Include small objects: a drawing, a ticket, a photograph, a favourite word.
Seal it, write the opening date on the outside, and put it somewhere safe.
Put the date in the family calendar so it actually gets opened.
Most activity lists ignore the things that actually decide it
Writing to your future self requires imagining that you will be a different person, which is genuinely difficult for children and worth practising. Opening it a year later is the rare activity whose payoff is guaranteed to be interesting.
Adapting by age
5 to 6 yearsThey draw themselves and dictate three sentences.
11 to 12 yearsAdd sealed predictions about the wider world and score them on opening.