If you've been teaching for any length of time, you know that most classroom activities disappear from students' memories within weeks. But there's one that sticks. Years later, former students will message you to say: "I just got that letter I wrote to myself in your class. I can't believe how much has changed."

Writing a letter to your future self is one of the simplest activities you can run — and one of the most meaningful. It takes one lesson. It works with any age group. It costs nothing. And it creates a moment of real reflection in a way that worksheets and essays rarely do.

This guide gives you everything you need to run it in your classroom, from step-by-step instructions to age-specific prompts you can put on the board today.

Why This Activity Works

On the surface, it's a writing exercise. Students draft a letter, address it to themselves, and schedule it to arrive at some point in the future. Simple.

But underneath, it does several things at once:

It builds reflective writing skills. Students have to think about their own life — who they are, what they care about, what they're working towards — and put that into words. That's harder than it sounds, and it's a skill that transfers to personal statements, essays, and real-world communication.

It encourages goal-setting. Research by Dr. Gail Matthews at Dominican University found that people who write down their goals are 42% more likely to achieve them. When students write "I hope I've passed my exams by the time I read this," they're not just hoping — they're externalising an intention and making it concrete.

It develops a growth mindset. The letter becomes a record of who they were at a specific point in time. When they receive it months or years later, they can see how they've grown — even in ways they didn't notice happening. That's powerful evidence that change is possible.

It's personal in a way school rarely is. Students know nobody else will read their letter — not their teacher, not their parents, not their classmates. That privacy creates space for honesty that you almost never get in graded work. And because it's personal, they care about it in a way they don't care about most assignments.

When to Use It

This activity fits naturally into several moments in the school calendar:

Back to school (September). Students write about their hopes and goals for the year ahead. Set delivery for June. When it arrives on the last week of term, they get to see how far they've come.

End of year (June). Students reflect on everything that happened this year and write to next-year-self. Set delivery for the first week of the new school year. It's a bridge between the person they were and the person they're becoming.

Start of a new term or semester. A lighter version — a quick check-in letter. "What am I focused on this term? What do I want to be different by the end?" Works well as a 15-minute warm-up activity.

Before exams. Students write a letter of encouragement to themselves, scheduled to arrive the night before results day. It's a pep talk from the version of themselves who was in the middle of revision — and it lands at exactly the right moment.

Graduation and leavers. The classic. Seniors write to themselves 5 years into the future. This is the one that creates the stories teachers hear about for decades. Students receive the letter when they're in their early twenties, and it becomes one of the most memorable things from their school years.

This works for every age group — from primary school children writing about what they want to be when they grow up, to university students writing to their graduation-day selves.

How to Run the Activity (Step-by-Step)

You can fit this into a single 30-minute lesson, or spread it across two if you want more time for discussion. Here's how:

Step 1: Introduce the Concept (5 minutes)

Explain the idea: "Today you're going to write a letter to your future self. You'll write it now, and it will be delivered to your email at a date we choose together. Nobody else will read it — not me, not your classmates. It's completely private."

If students aren't familiar with the concept, you might share a quick example: "Imagine getting an email from yourself a year ago, telling you what you were worried about, what you were hoping for, and what song you had stuck in your head. That's what we're creating today."

Step 2: Brainstorm Together (5 minutes)

Ask the class: "If you could send a message to your future self, what would you want to tell them? What might they want to know about your life right now?"

Write ideas on the board as they come up. Common suggestions: what my friends are like, what I'm learning, what I want to do when I'm older, what's stressing me out, what I'm proud of. This gets the ideas flowing before they start writing.

Step 3: Students Write Their Letters (15–20 minutes)

Students write their letters. You can provide the prompts from this guide (see below) or let them write freely. Both work — prompts help students who freeze in front of a blank page, while freeform lets confident writers go deeper.

Remind them: this is not graded. There's no word count. It can be as long or as short as they want. The only rule is honesty.

Some students will finish in five minutes. That's fine — a short, honest letter is better than a long, performative one. Others will want more time and will still be writing when you call it. That's fine too.

Step 4: Send the Letters

Students visit lettertomyfutureself.net, enter their letter, add their email address, and choose a delivery date. No account is needed — it's free and takes about two minutes.

For the delivery date, it works well to choose one together as a class. "We'll all set ours for the first day back in September" creates a shared experience and a sense of anticipation.

For younger students who may not have their own email, they can use a parent or guardian's email address — just make sure they tell their parent to expect it.

Step 5: Follow-Up Conversation (Optional)

If you have time, close with a brief discussion: "What was it like to think about your future self? Was it easy or hard? Did anything surprise you about what you chose to write?"

You don't need to ask anyone to share what they wrote — the privacy is important. But discussing the experience of writing is valuable and often sparks interesting conversations about identity, change, and growing up.

Age-Specific Ideas

Primary / Elementary (Ages 8–11)

Keep it simple and fun. At this age, the activity works best as a snapshot rather than deep reflection.

Prompt ideas: What's your favourite thing to do right now? What do you want to be when you grow up? Who's your best friend? What's your favourite book or show? What do you want to learn this year?

Delivery timeframe: End of the school year works well — long enough to feel exciting, short enough to stay relatable. A full year can feel like forever at this age.

Tip: Have students write their letter on paper first, then type it into the site. It doubles as handwriting practice, and having a draft means they don't feel pressured while typing.

Middle School (Ages 11–14)

This is the sweet spot for this activity. Students at this age are starting to form their identity — they're thinking about who they are and who they want to become, even if they'd never say it out loud. A private letter gives them space to explore that.

Prompt ideas: What are you proud of this year? What's one goal you have for yourself? What's something you're struggling with that you hope will be easier by the time you read this? Describe a typical day in your life right now. What do your friendships look like?

Delivery timeframe: Start of next school year (if written in June) or end of the year (if written in September). A 6–12 month window is ideal.

Tip: Students at this age are especially self-conscious. Emphasise privacy hard — "I will never see this. Nobody will. It's between you and future-you."

High School (Ages 14–18)

Older students can go deeper. This is where letters start to include real fears, real ambitions, and real vulnerability — if they trust that it's truly private.

Prompt ideas: Where do you want to be in 5 years? What's the biggest decision you're facing right now? What do you wish you could tell someone but haven't? What are you most afraid of? What do you hope you'll be proud of when you read this?

Delivery timeframe: For most students, one year works well. For seniors and leavers, set it for 5 years — the letter will arrive when they're in their early twenties, and it invariably becomes one of the most meaningful things from their school years.

Tip: Consider writing one yourself and, if you're comfortable, telling the class you're doing it too. It normalises the vulnerability and shows them it's not just a school task — it's a genuinely useful thing to do.

University / College

First-year students writing to their graduation-day selves is a powerful exercise. It works in orientation week, personal development modules, mentoring programmes, or as a wellbeing activity.

Prompt ideas: What are you hoping to get out of these years? What kind of person do you want to be by the time you graduate? What are you leaving behind? What are you afraid of?

Delivery timeframe: Graduation day, or the end of the academic year.

15 Writing Prompts for Students

Put these on the board, print them out, or read a few aloud before students start writing. They don't need to answer all of them — just the ones that feel right.

About Right Now

• Describe a typical day in your life at the moment.
• Who are the most important people in your life right now?
• What are you learning that feels interesting or difficult?
• What's something that happened recently that you want to remember?
• What are three words that describe how you feel today?

About the Future

• What's one thing you hope will be different when you read this?
• What goal are you working towards right now?
• What do you want your future self to know about this moment in your life?
• What's something you hope hasn't changed?
• Where do you think you'll be when you read this?

Fun and Personal

• What song can you not stop listening to right now?
• Make a prediction about something — anything. Sport, the world, your life.
• What's the funniest thing that's happened to you recently?
• If your future self could send one word back to you right now, what do you think it would be?
• What advice would you give your future self?

Adapting the Activity for Different Subjects

This isn't just for English class. The letter-to-future-self format works across the curriculum:

English / Language Arts. Practise letter writing format, reflective voice, first-person perspective, and descriptive writing. Pair with a lesson on personal narrative or memoir.

PSHE / Advisory / Pastoral. Goal-setting, self-awareness, wellbeing check-in. The letter format makes what could feel like a tick-box exercise into something students actually engage with.

Science. "Write a letter to yourself at the end of this unit. What do you predict you'll have learned? What questions do you hope you'll be able to answer?" It's a creative way to activate prior knowledge.

History. "Imagine you're a person living through this historical moment. Write a letter to someone in the future." It's not strictly a "future self" letter, but it uses the same format and builds empathy and perspective.

PE / Sport. "Write to yourself at the end of the season. What do you want to have achieved? What does your best performance look like?" Goal-setting in sport becomes more personal when it's written as a letter.

Maths. Surprisingly, it works. "Write to yourself at the end of the year. What topic did you find hardest? What do you want to have mastered?" It encourages a growth mindset around a subject many students have fixed beliefs about.

Tips From Teachers Who've Done This

Choose the delivery date together. When the whole class sets the same date, it creates shared anticipation. Students will talk about it in the corridor: "Have you got your letter yet?"

Make privacy non-negotiable. This only works if students trust that nobody else will see their letter. Don't ask them to share. Don't collect them. Don't grade them. The moment it becomes an assessed piece, they stop being honest and start performing.

Put prompts on the board. Some students will stare at a blank screen and say "I don't know what to write." That's normal. Having 5–10 prompts visible gives them a way in without dictating what they should say.

Write one yourself. If you're asking students to be reflective and vulnerable, doing it alongside them carries weight. You don't have to share what you wrote, but telling them you're doing the same activity shifts the dynamic from "assignment" to "shared experience."

Keep expectations low for length. A few sentences is enough. A single paragraph is plenty. The point isn't word count — it's the act of pausing to think about who you are and who you're becoming. Some of the most powerful student letters are the shortest ones.

Do it again next year. The activity gets richer when students have done it before. Receiving last year's letter and immediately writing this year's creates a tradition — and gives students a running record of their own growth.

Coming Soon: Teacher Accounts

We're working on a dedicated teacher dashboard to make this activity even easier to manage in the classroom. The plan is to give teachers the ability to:

• See which students have submitted their letter (without ever seeing the content)
• Set a class-wide delivery date
• Track completion at a glance

If you'd like to be notified when teacher accounts are available, get in touch — we'd love to hear from you, and your feedback will help us build something that actually works for how you teach.

Frequently Asked Questions for Teachers

Do students need to create an account?
No. Students can write and send a letter for free without signing up for anything. They just need an email address for delivery.

Can I see what students write?
No, and this is by design. Letters are stored encrypted and are completely private. Not even we can read them. This privacy is what makes students comfortable being honest.

Is it safe for students to use?
Yes. We don't share data with third parties, letters are encrypted, and the service has been running for over 10 years. Students don't need to provide any personal information beyond an email address.

What age is this suitable for?
Any age that can write — typically 8 and up. For younger students, keep the prompts simple and the delivery timeframe short (end of term rather than end of year). For students without their own email, a parent or guardian's email address works.

What if a student's email address changes before the letter arrives?
For shorter timeframes (a few months), this is rarely an issue. For longer periods (5+ years, common with leavers), suggest students use an email address they expect to keep long-term, such as a personal Gmail. If a student has a premium account, they can update their email at any time.

Can students send a letter to someone else?
Yes — the service accepts any email address. Some teachers have students write letters to incoming students, or to themselves care of a parent's email. It's flexible.

How long does the activity take?
As little as 20 minutes if you skip the intro discussion, or a full 30–40 minute lesson if you include brainstorming and follow-up. It can also be set as a short homework task.

For a general guide to writing letters to your future self — with prompts, examples, and step-by-step instructions for anyone — see our complete guide: How to Write a Letter to Your Future Self.

Older students might also enjoy setting up a weekly check-in habit — a short email to themselves each week that builds self-reflection into a routine.