Time Capsule Container Ideas for Time Lab

For one of the crafts in this year’s Answers VBS, Time Lab, you’ll need containers for time capsules that the kids will decorate, fill with various items, and take home to hide and open in a few years.

You can also make the time capsules for your informational meetings with volunteers, to give them a fun way to take all their information home. You can see a demonstration of this in the below video.

NancyRocky C. asked on our Facebook Answers VBS Discussion Group if any other VBS leaders had ideas for what these containers could be. In the above video, we suggested mailer tubes since they are sturdy and don’t need to be cleaned like food containers do. Another item we suggested were empty Lays Stax® or Pringles® containers.

Here are a few other ideas garnered from responses to her question:

• Crystal Light containers for smaller time capsules.
• Round plastic ornaments.
• Empty tennis ball containers. (These can perhaps be collected from the local high school tennis team or the local tennis club.)
• Frosting containers.
• Toddler puff snack containers.
• Wide-mouth water bottles.

If you’re having a hard time getting a large number of the same type of container, consider Erin H.’s suggestion. She said her church was using “basically anything plastic that has a lid. Cool whip, deli meat, frosting, sour cream, etc.” In your VBS kit you’ll find labels, but, if you go this route, the downside is that you may have to design your own labels, and you can’t cut all the paper the kids will use to cover the container to the same size. You’ll have to individually cut and measure for each container.

Another suggestion comes from Michelle L. who shares, “We were able to get Lays Stax donated by asking for outdated product. The ones we received are still fresh!” She suggests going to your local grocery store, explaining why you need them, and perhaps offering to put their name in your thank-you notes that the whole church congregation will see.

Join our Facebook discussion group to post your questions or garner ideas from other VBS teachers, leaders, and volunteers. We’d love to see your ideas or help answer your questions! Also, be sure to order and consult the VBS Science and Crafts Guide for more fun inspiration.