DLTK's Crafts for Kids
Spring Fortune Teller

I'm sure we've all made these at some point in time (it used to be a sleepover favorite).  Kaitlyn, my 13 year old, still loves to make them though she makes them up herself instead of using templates.  Younger children or kids who are new to the idea will appreciate the template to walk them through how fortune tellers work.

Kaitlyn does them with riddles on the inside (Question on the second layer, Answer on the third layer), with "future boyfriend" questions and with "future career" questions.  It seems that every time she makes one, she comes up with something different to write on them!  They're a great sleepover party activity.

These are very simple to make, but if you have trouble with the instructions, try reading through the basic origami instructions.
 

Materials:

• square of paper - click here for instructions to make a rectangle of paper (typical 8.5x11 sheet) into a square.
   
• Pen or pencil

Instructions:

• Fold paper from corner to corner, making a triangle.

• Fold the triangle from corner to corner, making a smaller triangle.

• Unfold everything -- you'll have a square of paper with an X crease.

• Fold the corner to the center of the square (where the X crosses)

• Repeat with the other three corners.

• And you end up with a smaller square!

• Flip your paper over -- you'll still see creases from your first two steps

• Fold the corner to the center of the square (where the X crosses)

• Repeat with the other three corners and you'll end up with an even smaller square

• Fold and unfold the bottom edge of the square up to the top

• Fold and unfold the left edge of the square over to the right

• so that the creases look like an astrix across your small square 

• This bit is easier to do than it is to explain -- basically, you want to push the four corners of the square together in the center and then slide 4 fingers into the flaps of your fortune teller, creasing the folds back so your fingers fit in nicely.  You'll be able to move the flaps with your fingers like little puppets.

• At this point, carefully print 4 things on the outside flaps (the standard are blue, red, green and yellow).  Print 8 things on the inside flaps (the standard are the numbers 1 thru 8).  And print 8 things underneath the inside flaps -- the standard are "fortunes" like:
  • You'll be rich
  • You'll be famous
  • You'll fall in love
  • You'll be happy
     
• You can color in some of the Activities if you like or add stickers.

• To play the standard version, Kaitlyn will
    
  • ask your favorite color and then flap the fortune teller open one way, then the other spelling out the color (ex:  B  L  U  E)
     
  • ask your favorite number or how many children (boyfriends) you'll have and then count out the number, again flapping the fortune teller back and forth
     
  • then ask your lucky number, lift that flap and read the person's fortune.

Templates:

• Close the template window after printing to return to this screen.
   
• Set page margins to zero if you have trouble fitting the template on one page (FILE, PAGE SETUP or FILE, PRINTER SETUP in most browsers).
   

Fortune Teller Template   (color)   or   (B&W)

Printable version of these instructions