How to Make a Paper Fortune Teller and What to Write Inside

Few paper objects go by so many names. Paper fortune teller, cootie catcher, chatterbox, salt cellar: the fold is exactly the same, and the only things that change are what people call it and what gets written inside.

It takes eight folds, none of them hard, and the result is a toy that really works: it opens two ways, reveals hidden messages, and can fill a whole afternoon when the game is set up well.

Step by Step

1. Start with the colored side down. If the paper is white on both sides, even better: more room to write.
2. Crease the diagonals. Fold corner to corner both ways and unfold. Where the creases cross marks the center.
3. Fold all four corners to the center. Each tip touches the crossing point. You have a smaller square.
4. Turn the paper over and fold the four corners on this side to the center as well. The square shrinks again.
5. Fold in half side to side and unfold; fold in half top to bottom and unfold. These creases are what let the toy move.
6. Turn it over again. The side now facing you has four square pockets.
7. Slip your fingers in. The thumb and index finger of each hand go into a pocket. Bring your fingertips together and the fortune teller closes.
8. Test the opening. Spread thumbs and index fingers apart sideways and it opens one way; spread them apart front to back and it opens the other. Those two movements reveal different sets of flaps.

What to Write Where

The toy has three levels of information, and each one appears at a different moment:

Write everything before you put your fingers in, with the fortune teller lying open on the table. Once it is assembled, writing under the flaps means taking it apart, and creased paper never goes back together quite as well.

How to Play

1. The first player picks one of the colors on the outside.
2. Whoever is holding the fortune teller spells out the color, opening and closing the toy on each letter and alternating directions.
3. The player picks one of the numbers showing.
4. The holder counts up to that number, still opening and closing.
5. The player picks a number once more, and this time the matching flap is lifted and the message read.

Ideas for Filling the Flaps

The usual ones (“you will have good luck today”) work, but they wear thin quickly. A few alternatives that keep the game going longer:

• Quick dares: imitate an animal, tell a joke, hop on one foot until somebody laughs.
• Questions: what was the best part of your day, what would you do with a free day.
• Origami challenges: fold a specific model in one minute. This goes well with the models in origami with kids.
• Household chores, for the version adults find funny and kids not so much.
• School content: eight questions on multiplication facts, state capitals, or vocabulary in another language.

Variations

Monster Fortune Teller

Draw pointy teeth along the inner edges of the flaps so that a mouth appears when the toy opens. Add eyes on the outside squares and the whole thing turns into a chomping creature.

Giant Fortune Teller

With a 12-inch (30 cm) sheet, it becomes a toy for two whole hands. Because the layers are proportionally thinner, it opens and closes more easily than the small one.

Picker Version

Instead of messages, write names under the flaps. Use it to decide who goes first in a game or who sets the table, with the advantage of feeling less arbitrary than drawing straws.

Which Paper to Use

Ordinary 75 gsm printer paper is ideal: thin enough to open easily and firm enough to last. In very thin gift wrap, the flaps crumple fast; in paper over 100 gsm, the toy jams.

The standard 6-inch (15 cm) size suits children’s hands from about age six. For younger children, a square cut straight from a sheet of US Letter (8.5 inches) or A4 (21 cm), using the method in how to cut a perfect square, is much more comfortable.

Why It Gets Stiff After a While

A well-used fortune teller starts to resist: the pockets close up, the flaps do not open properly, and the movement loses its ease. The cause is always the same. The step 5 creases, the ones that let it move, gradually soften with handling.

The fix takes seconds: take your fingers out, fold the toy in half both ways, pressing firmly, and put your fingers back in. It opens normally again.

If the paper has already gone limp and soft along the folds, there is no repair. At that point the fortune teller has reached the end of its useful life, and it is time to fold a new one.

In the Classroom

Classroom use gets a lot out of this toy, because it turns repetition into a game. Some applications that work:

• Multiplication facts. Eight problems under the flaps, with the answer written upside down or in small print.
• Vocabulary in another language. The word on the flap, the translation underneath.
• Content review. Eight short questions on the week’s topic.
• Classroom jobs. Eight tidy-up tasks, picked at the end of the day.

One practical advantage: each student makes their own, which already fills the first part of the lesson, and then they swap with each other, so the content circulates without the teacher running every round.

For small groups or younger children, combine it with other models that also turn into play, such as the origami jumping frog.