DIY Paper Fortune Teller- Cootie Catcher
A Paper Fortune Teller is an origami finger game made from one sheet of paper. Add riddles or predictions of future dreams and you are ready for lots of laughs! Makes a simple finger puppet or May Day basket too!
Servings: 1 paper fortune teller
Cost: $1
Equipment
- Scissors
Ingredients
- Free Printable Paper Fortune Teller Pattern
- OR copy paper
- Colored pencils or markers
Instructions
- Print off the Free Printable Paper Fortune Teller Pattern and cut it out. Here is the link: Printable Paper Fortune Teller.OR you can take a sheet of printer paper, fold down one corner to make a triangle from the paper and cut off the extra. The triangle will open and be an even square. That’s the starting point of this craft, a square piece of paper.
- Fold the square paper in half one direction, crease well, and then open out flat. Fold the square paper in half the other direction, crease well and then open out flat. Then fold the square paper diagonally both directions, crease well, and open out flat again.
- Lay the flat but creased paper in front of you. Fold a corner of the paper into the very center of the square (where all of the first creased lines intersect). Note: If using the free printable pattern, start with the printed side DOWN.Repeat this with all four corners of the paper. These corners of the original square should meet at the center but not overlap. Keep the corners folded in, don’t unfold again- which makes it a smaller square.
- If you are making the game from your own paper, write a color word on each point that meets at the center- “BLUE”, “YELLOW”, “RED”, and “GREEN”.Note: The free printable paper will have this done for you. Turn this over.
- Fold each of the corners of this smaller square into the center and crease well. They will touch at the center but not overlap (like the first time). Keep these folded in.
- If you are making the game from your own paper, write a number on each of the 8 small triangle sections you see. Number them 1-8.Note: The free printable paper will have this done for you.This is all the origami folding that needs to be done in this simple project. Easy-peasy!Turn the folded Paper Fortune Teller over.
- The folds have created four little pockets that you can stick your fingers into (use your thumb and first three fingers- the poor pinky finger gets left out!).This pops these little pockets open (your fingers go in these pockets) and causes the four corners of the square to meet together in a point. This takes a bit of maneuvering the first time you do it. As you move your fingers you can open the points up and down. This will create the movement of the game (or puppet).
- Now for instructions on how to make and play the game.You will have a person choose a color on the front of the Paper Fortune Teller. Then you’ll move the “mouth” up and down as you spell the color they have chosen. So if they choose “RED”, you open it up and down/then sideways and back together three times as you spell out “R-E-D”. Then the person will choose a number from inside the open Paper Fortune Teller “mouth” from the position it is in after you have spelled out the color.On my game, the numbers 7,8,3, or 4 are available as choices after spelling out R-E-D.So if they choose “8”, you take the Paper Fortune Teller off your fingers and lift the flap with an “8” on it to see what it says.
- Lay the Paper Fortune teller back down on the table and flatten it out again so that the side with the 8 numbers is on top.You will be lifting each flap and writing something on the area underneath each number. That is what you will read to the person you are playing with when they choose that number. Make sense?
- There are lists of possibilities of what to write (several game ideas) on the Free Printable Paper Fortune Teller Pattern for you to choose from if you would like! Here is the link again: Free Printable Paper Fortune Teller Pattern
- Other uses for the paper fortune teller- draw a face on the front and use it as a finger puppet. OR staple on a handle and use it as a May Basket!!