Youniverse Create Your Own Slimygloop Fortune Teller Craft Kit, DIY Slimy Putty Stem Fortune Teller Kit, Assorted/Pink/Purple
Crafts for Kids , Educational DIY Crafts By the-author December 9, 2024 The Fortune Teller Origami Toy , also known as a Cootie Catcher , is a classic paper craft that has been popular among kids and adults alike for generations. This interactive, fun, and simple DIY project can be used for games, predictions, and as a playful activity for parties or casual get-togethers. In this tutorial, we will guide you step by step on how to create your own fortune teller origami toy , using only a sheet of paper. Whether you’re a beginner or an origami enthusiast, this craft is easy to follow and highly entertaining. In this guide, we will not only teach you how to make a Fortune Teller Origami Toy , but we’ll also provide useful tips and tricks to help you improve your origami skills. Plus, we’ll show you how to personalize your fortune teller with fun designs and creative messages. A Fortune Teller Origami Toy is a folded paper game that can predict fortunes, offer silly tasks, or provide other playful responses to questions. It is often used at parties, school events, or as an entertaining pastime. The game consists of a square piece of paper that is folded into a tetrahedral shape, with flaps that move when you operate the toy with your fingers. Players typically ask a question, and the toy “answers” based on its movements and the numbers or colors inside. Before you start creating your fortune teller origami toy , gather these materials: To use the Fortune Teller Origami Toy , follow these steps: The Fortune Teller Origami Toy is a simple yet entertaining craft project that combines creativity, fun, and a little bit of mystery. Whether you’re making one for a party, as a fun activity with kids, or just to pass the time, this DIY toy is sure to bring joy. With just a piece of paper, some creativity, and a little folding, you’ll be able to make your own interactive origami toy that’s ready for fun-filled moments with friends and family. Need a 5–10-minute craft and a bit of fun? A Paper Fortune Teller is an origami finger game made from one sheet of paper. It moves up, down, and sideways on your fingers in a game of chance answers to tell fortunes, jokes, or predictions! Ready for a fun one? These paper fortune tellers are so much fun to make, they used to bring us hours of entertainment! Add riddles, options of good fortune, or predictions of future dreams and good luck, and you are ready for lots of laughs. This craft could also double as a fast puppet or cute May basket. Using just one piece of paper and a pencil to make, it's versatile, fast, and easy! Did you ever make a paper fortune teller in grade school? We called them cootie catchers or pinchers and filled them with riddles or predictions of who we might marry. This little folded paper game provided entertainment so many times when all we had was a piece of paper, some time to fill, and a bit of imagination. We probably made hundreds of cootie catchers over the years- for games, puppets, and May baskets. I never thought of this being origami, but that’s what it is! We would tear a piece of paper into a square, fold it carefully, and write our messages inside. So technically, it is a form of origami! I’ve heard it called an origami finger game as well. It does take a little bit of fancy folding, but don't worry, it's made easier by the free pattern and step-by-step instructions below. There is a printable paper fortune teller for you to print off, cut out and fold if you would like. Or you can easily cut and use your own paper. Let’s see how it works. Print off the Printable Paper Fortune Teller and cut it out . Here is the link: Printable Paper Fortune Teller . You can use any kind of paper you'd like, as long as it's not too thick. I'd recommend a piece of origami paper, printer paper, scrapbook paper, or construction paper. ​The printable template makes for a great size for your fingers, but if you wanted to try a little piece of paper (or a giant one), that could be fun too. If you'd prefer not to print off the pattern, you can take a sheet of printer paper, fold down one corner to the opposite corner to make a triangle flap 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. Ready to make our origami paper fortune tellers? Once the kids get started, they might not want to stop, these silly things are a lot of fun. ​Let's jump in! Fold the square paper in half from the left side of the paper to the right, crease well, and then open out flat. Fold the square paper in half from the top edge of the paper to the bottom edge, crease well and then open out flat. Then fold the square paper diagonally both directions, making the corner tip touch as you crease well, and open out flat again. Each fold line will help you to do the origami folding of the fortune teller evenly- so make the first folds as accurately as possible. Lay the flat but creased paper in front of you. Fold the top right 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 the top left corner, then the bottom corners of the paper as well, so you are left with identical triangles that create a smaller square. These corners of the original square should meet at the center but not overlap. Keep the corners folded in, don’t unfold again. 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, so the outer folds are facing away from you. Fold each of the corners of this smaller square into the center of the paper and crease well. They will touch at the center but not overlap (like the last time). Keep these small triangles you've created 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 square flaps or 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. OK, for our last step, let’s decide what game we are playing and add our messages inside of the fortune teller next. 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? This is the last thing to be done to finish up this fun game! Now that you know how the game is played, you can start imagining ways you could use it to have some fun. This one folded paper can be used for a lot of kinds of different games! Here are a few ideas of things to write under the flaps. There are lists of answer possibilities for these games 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 And that's it! Now go and find someone to play with, maybe go offer to tell a friend's fortune! Keep this craft idea in mind for a time filler for the kids, when you have a few free extra minutes. All you need is a piece of paper and a pencil, but there are all sorts of fun things that can come from it. I know you already have all sorts of games to play with this simple craft, but I bet you didn't know you could turn these origami folds into something else as well! Here are a couple other really cute ideas that we used to do with the Paper Fortune Teller. Cut and fold a large colorful square of paper into a paper fortune teller. Place it points down on the table and add a handle to the top. Put a few flowers and a bit of candy in the pockets and it makes a great May basket! This could be a cute little handmade gift idea for Mother's Day as well. A Paper Fortune Teller can also be used as a very simple puppet. Put your fingers in the fortune teller and close the pointed parts together to form the “mouth” of the puppet. Draw a mouth on the horizontal line and two eyes above the mouth, on each side of the vertical line. You can add decorations of all types to the face. Be creative! Only open the fortune teller up and down to make the mouth move. It’s a puppet! Oh, I just remembered, we used to draw a “tongue” inside the open mouth- ha! You can add whatever features you would like. Simple and fun! Pop on over to YouTube to watch the video if that is your preference. And while you are at it, subscribe while you are there! Link: YouTube video link for Paper Fortune Teller- Cootie Catcher DIY A paper fortune teller is easy to make with a single piece of paper! Start by folding in the corners of your paper, then write four color words. Fold again, then write your numbers. Turn the paper over and gently find the "pockets" for your fingers. Now open the fortune teller up and write your messages inside. Refold and it's ready for you to play! Some great fortunes for a paper fortune teller are: "You will make a friend today", "You will find something you lost", and "You will accomplish something difficult". You can also use your paper fortune teller to answer questions, or tell jokes! First, have a person ask a question, then 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. Next, they will choose a number that is now displayed inside the open Paper Fortune Teller “mouth”. Lift the flap of the number selected to see what it says. You may have heard of a paper fortune teller being called a "cootie catcher" in the past! Since it is a simple form of origami, it can also be called an origami finger game. Loving the paper-folding fun? Hop on over to one of these origami ideas to keep the creativity rolling: This post was originally published in April 2023 and has been updated to add more relevant and detailed content. I used to make these all the time as a kid, such a fun game with friends 🙂 This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed . Scroll to bottom of page for a Free Blank Cootie Catcher you can customize & a prefilled kids version. Enjoy your fortune teller! Creative Content Creator & mom of 4 View All Posts