Letter to my future self

Duration:

15-20 minutes

You’ll need:

• paper
• pens/pencils
• envelope
• Art materials for decorating (sequins, stickers, glue etc)

1.

First, ask the girls how they want to lay out their letter. Do they want to keep it simple and write it out on a piece of A4 paper, or could they fold their page somehow to create a more interesting design? 

2.

You can insert images onto the document by:   

• Selecting “insert” on the tool bar   
• Selecting “pictures”  
• Selecting “online pictures” or “from Bing”   
• Then searching for your images like you would on a normal search engine.   

3.

Here are some questions you can use as prompts to help the girls decide on what to write:  

• What might your future-self have accomplished or achieved over the course of the year?   
• Can you think of any kind or reassuring words your future-self might like or need to hear?   
• What might she be proud of herself for doing?   
• Are there any particular obstacles she might have had to face in that year? How do you think she went about overcoming those challenges?  

• Imagine you had done this activity a year ago and were opening the letter you had written for yourself now – what might it say? What might you be hoping to read?  

It’s important for girls to practise speaking to kindly to themselves – this includes cheering themselves on when they’re feeling confident, giving praise when they’ve worked hard or done something brave, and comforting themselves when we’re angry, scared, or upset. Ask the girls to try to keep this in mind when writing their letter.  

4.

Once the girls have finished writing their letter, it’s time to decorate it! If the girls are planning to put their letter in an envelope, they can decorate that too!  Remind the girls to write the date nice and clearly and include the date when they are planning to open their letter too.   

5.

You can always ask the girls to share excerpts from their letter if they want to read it aloud – but only if they are happy to. This might help the girls to be inspired by one another.   

6.

If the girls enjoyed writing their letters, they can try writing different letters to open at specific times or in specific situations.  

Here are some examples:  

“Open me if you are feeling sad…”  

“Open me on your birthday!”  

“Open me just before your big school test”  

“Open me if you need a confidence boost”