Once Upon Our Time Capsule is a non-profit dedicated to helping kids build confidence and community.

Children in a classroom setting engaging in art activities at a table covered with a striped cloth. The table has paper, markers, pencils, and other craft supplies scattered around. Some kids are drawing on worksheets featuring soccer themes.

community

Foster Connectedness in the Classroom: Through the process of sharing and learning about each other’s experiences and perspectives, students honor their similarities and differences, strengthening their sense of belonging and community.

A child sitting at a table, smiling and working with papers. They are wearing glasses and a hoodie. In the background, there are desks, chairs, and rolled-up mats.

well-being

Support Mental Health and Well-Being:

Students reflect on their own lives, and what they value most, building their sense of self-worth, resilience and positive identity.

Four children smiling and holding 'The Great Wind' book in front of red lockers.

Culture

Strengthen School Culture: When done by a grade band, or whole school, the Time Capsule helps solidify a collective identity and pride in the school’s unique culture.

Once Upon Our Time Capsule is a non-profit dedicated to helping kids build confidence and community.

Each June, we launch a new Youth Time Capsule, with a new theme, supported by an evidence-based, arts-infused, SEL-aligned curriculum.

Through the curriculum, students reflect on, share, and document stories of their lives, and learn about the stories of others. They create artifacts for the Time Capsule that capture what life is like today. Students then submit their work into a digital Time Capsule to be preserved for ten years. Through this year’s experiential curriculum, students reflect on personal, community, and ancestral journeys, valuing their own experiences, and the experiences of their peers.

  • Target Age: 4th-8th grade

  • Duration/Activities: Eight 60-minute sessions that include theater-based games, writing exercises, visual arts projects, and facilitated discussion.

  • Cost: Sliding scale pricing available.

  • "The program was amazing... Our students benefited so much. It really gave them a chance to reflect on their own identity, their own culture, and what makes them special and unique. What was really amazing was that they got to share that side of themselves with their peers and with their class. I can't say enough wonderful things about the program."

    Monica Balesh, Counselor, Philip D. Armour Elementary School, a Chicago Public School