I first learned to make these in grade school so this is something you can make and share with your kids or re-discover for yourself. Kids (young and old) love to play with these and all you need is a piece of square paper, pencil or crayons, and an imagination.
To construct a paper fortune teller you need a square piece of paper. To check if your paper is square, fold it diagonally along one edge. If there is some paper left over outside of your fold cut it off with scissors. You will now have a square piece of paper.
How To Fold And Make Your Fortune Teller
- Use a square piece of paper
- Fold the paper in half
- Open the paper, turn the paper perpendicular and fold the paper in half again
- Unfold the paper again, if done right you will have 4 squares on the page
- Fold the paper on the diagonal
- Unfold the paper, turn it and fold it on the other diagonal
- Open the paper again
- Fold all the corners to the center of the paper
- Turn it over and fold the corners to the center of the paper on the other side
You are now finished folding your fortune teller. Time for the fun part! What fortunes and colors will you think of?
Flip it over and write a number on each of the four sections. (If you have problems there's plenty of pictures to compare with.)
Flip the fortune teller over and open it up without unfolding the whole thing. Write creative fortunes (answers to your questions) on the inside flaps. Answers to yes/no types of questions are the best.
Fold the flaps back down and write a color (or color the flap) for each section. (There should be 8 sections.)
Your Origami Fortune Teller is now finished.
It should look something like this (below.) It's ok to color flaps and make it as decorative as you'd like. Simple pictures would be fun too.
Whatever you come up with is good. You can pick themes for each fortune teller and make more than one. You can have a color or picture theme it's all up to you.
- Love Questions
- Life Questions
- Silly Questions
- Future Fortune Telling
- Truth Or Dare Questions
- Yes Or No Questions
People’s names, animals, or any theme can be incorporated into the fortune teller for variety. Feel free to experiment.
Grab the fortune teller and open it up for a test drive. (See the animation at the top of this post.) To open, use your index finger and thumb of your right hand under the square flaps on the right side. Do the same with your left hand on the left side. Both your hands should be in the fortune teller. Slowly bring your fingers together and the fortune teller will close. Open and close the flaps by opening and closing your fingers.
How To Use It
With your fingers in it have someone ask a yes/no type question. After they answer flip it around (put on a good show) and let them pick a number on the outside.
After they pick a number, count out the number as you move the fortune teller back and forth (i.e. FOUR - count four moves) that many times. On the last count keep it open so they can pick a color.
Have them pick a color. Spell out the color as you move the fortune teller back and forth (i.e. BLUE- four letters, move 4 times) as many letters that are in that color. Hold it open on the last letter so they can pick a number from the inside.
Have them pick a new number from the inside and open the flap of the number they picked. The answer to their question is on the inside tab that you have just revealed. Read them their answer.
When making your fortune teller it’s best to use paper that you can color or write on easily. Stickers, glitter, or any art supplies can be used. It’s up to you how you decorate it and what theme you choose. Have some fun with it and switch the tabs around. You can start with colors on the outside and numbers on the inside it still works the same. Choose colors that have different numbers in the names so there are no repeats when counting.
When writing questions for your fortune teller, keep in mind that they should be answers to ‘yes’ or ‘no’ type questions. The options are limitless.
What Theme Will You Use?
There is no end to the themes or look of these fortune tellers. People use this folding technique to make simple puppets and more. I've seen people use them for wedding placemats and just about anything. I'd like to see a link to your ideas in comments. Enjoy!
This is a cheap and fun way to keep busy when it's raining outside or there's nothing to do. Every kid should know how to make these and adults could learn a thing or two about old-fashioned fun and relaxation.
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