Fortune Tellers

by Jennifer Cooper, posted on September 27th, 2011 in Arts & Crafts, Kids DIY

You can call them fortune tellers, cootie catchers, chatterbox, or a whirlybirds. Whatever you call them, they’re a great activity for kids that exercises:

Writing skills: This one’s pretty self explanatory.
Fine Motor: Folding, cutting, and opening and closing once it’s assembled.
3D Thinking: They’re using folds to turn a 2D object into a 3D one.
Interpersonal skills: They’ll need to find someone to play this with.
Creativity: they get to come up with the fortunes. The more creative the more fun!

This is a great activity for kids who typically balk or stall when it comes to writing. When given the freedom to write whatever they want and the promise of playing a game afterward, you may be surprised just how independent they can be.

What they’ll need:
– A piece of paper. Stay away from thick paper. It doesn’t work well.
– Scissors
– Pencil or colored pencils

Step one
Make a square by folding one corner of the paper over and lining it up against the edge. Cut off the excess paper.

Step two
Fold each corner into the middle. You should end up with another square.

Step three
Flip the paper over. Now fold each corner into the middle.

This is what it should look like when you’re finished.

Step four
Fold the square in half in one direction (into a rectangle). Open it up and fold it in the other direction. Place your fingers in the open triangles on the underside of the paper then pinch the paper together.

Step 5
Now write numbers on each of the triangles. You’ll use these to count how many times you open and close the fortune teller.

Step 6
Lift up each triangle and write a fortune underneath. You can make them all good or some good and some bad. The sillier, the better though.

Step 7
Now play! Have a friend (or family member) chose a number. Open and close the fortune teller that many times. Have them chose a number again. Lift up the flap with the corresponding number and read his/her fortune. Was it a good one?

Wondering what to write? Here are some fortunes to get you started:

You will enter a pie eating contest and win.
You will enter a marshmallow eating contest and lose.
You will toot unexpectedly.
You will have broccoli for breakfast.
You will find treasure in an unusual location.
You will bring back the space program.
You will have a comic book hero character named after you.
You will check out a library book and forget to return it on time.
You will be successful at whatever you do.
You will find a dollar, but lose it later.