Origami fortune tellers have been a favorite pastime for kids for many years. Once you master how to put one together, the possibilities are endless on ways to play the game with friends and family.
- Skill level:
- Moderately Challenging
Instructions
Things you need
- Paper
- Scissors
- Pencil
- Ruler
- Markers or pen (optional)
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1
Fold an 8 1/2-by-11-inch sheet of paper into a triangle shape. There will be a strip of paper left at the bottom of the paper after completing this step. Cut off and discard this strip of paper.
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2
Open the paper, which is now a perfect square, and lay it on a flat surface. Notice the12-inch crease down the center of the paper. Take a ruler and measure 6 inches along the crease. Place a small dot at the 6-inch mark, this is the exact center of the paper.
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3
Take a corner of the square and fold it so that the point of the corner meets at the center dot you just made. Make a crease and repeat for the remaining three corners. You should now have a smaller square.
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4
Flip the square over so that you are working with the flat side of the square. You will now see a 6-inch crease down the center of your paper. Measure 3 inches down that crease and place a small dot.
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5
Take a corner of the square and fold it so that the point of the corner meets at the 3-inch dot you just made. Make a crease and repeat for the remaining three corners. You should now have a smaller square.
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6
Fold the bottom flap (a triangle shape) that is facing you up to align with the top flap (another triangle shape). You should have four square flaps at this point. Fold the paper in half lengthwise to make one small square and then open it back up to the four square flaps again. This makes working the fortune teller easier.
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7
Place your left index finger and thumb under two of the square flaps and your right index finger and thumb under the other two square flaps. This creates the finished origami fortune teller.
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8
Practice moving your fingers in a back-and-forth motion to operate the fortune teller. Now you can add details to your fortune teller using markers or a pen.
Tips and warnings
- Thin copy paper works best for this project. Do not worry if all of your folds are not exact. The fortune teller will still work, even if there are slight irregularities in the folding process.
- Fortune tellers usually are decorated with colors on the exterior and have numbers on the first set of interior flaps with fortunes or standard answers to questions under the flaps.
- Gauge your audience when writing your fortunes -- try to avoid hurt feelings.
