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One square of paper, about two minutes. Americans mostly call it a cootie catcher; in the UK it is a chatterbox, and origami books file it under salt cellar. Same object, same seven folds.
You get a four-pointed shape that sits on your fingertips and opens two ways. Someone picks a number, you work it open and shut while you count, they pick a colour, and the fortune under that flap gets read out.
Fold on a flat table, not your lap. Crisp creases separate a cootie catcher that snaps open from one that flops.
Printer paper is the right answer for a first one. It creases hard and takes pen without bleeding. Notebook paper works too. Stay off cardstock: eight corners fold into the middle, and heavy stock bulks up so much there that the flaps stop closing. Save it for a paper crane.
The square has to be square. Fold a corner across so the short edge lies along the long edge, crease hard, then cut or tear off the leftover strip. Six to eight inches suits adult hands; below five there is no room to write a legible fortune.
Two diagonal creases to find the centre. Four corners into that centre. Flip it. Four corners into the centre again. Fold the small square in half both ways, then push your fingers into the four pockets.
The flip is where people lose the thread. Turning it over hides the first round of points and gives a clean face for the second. Skip it and the pockets land on the outside where fingers cannot reach, which is why half-built ones refuse to open. The origami basics guide names these moves properly.
Write before you pop it open, while it is still flat. Numbers go on the four outer flaps, colours on the eight inner triangles. Lift each triangle and write a fortune underneath, eight in all, six words or so each.
Teachers can swap fortunes for questions: times tables, spelling words, state capitals.
One digit into each pocket, thumbs and forefingers, then pinch until it points. Open it by spreading your thumbs away from your fingers. Close it. Spread the other way, so it opens front to back instead of side to side. Alternating those two directions is the bit people get wrong: open it the same way every time and half your fortunes stay hidden.
A 10-inch square makes one small hands can work. A class set goes faster if you print the number and colour grid onto the squares first. Kids who take to this want the rest of the notebook-paper canon - a paper airplane, a ninja star, a paper football.
The flaps will not open. Nine times out of ten the two half folds got skipped. Flatten the small square, fold left to right and crease, unfold, then top to bottom. Those are the hinge.
The corners do not meet in the middle. The square was not square. Fold it corner to corner and check the edges line up. Out by more than a millimetre or two, trim and refold.
It splits at the centre. Too much rubbing back and forth over one crease, usually on thin or damp paper. Set each crease with one firm pass of a fingernail or ruler edge. Tape on the inside holds it, but the flaps never sit flat again.
Another one-sheet classic to fold next: how to make a paper popper.
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Make a paper fortune teller (cootie catcher) in 7 folds. An easy project: about 10 minutes. The 7 steps: fold a Square from Any Paper, cut or Tear Off the Strip, crease the Other Diagonal, fold All Four Corners to the Center, flip and Fold Corners Again, fold the Square in Half Both Ways and pop It Open and Play.
7 steps, about 4 minutes. Tap a picture to jump to that step. Your progress saves automatically.
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Grab any sheet of paper. Lined notebook paper works fine - it's what kids use at school. Take one corner and fold it diagonally so the short edge of the paper lines up with the long edge.
You'll have a triangle on top of the page with a strip of extra paper sticking out at the bottom. Crease the diagonal fold firmly.
Cut off the leftover strip along the bottom edge of the triangle with scissors. No scissors? Crease the line firmly back and forth a few times until the paper is weak there, then tear cleanly along the crease.
Unfold the triangle. You should be holding a perfect square with one diagonal crease running corner to corner.
Fold the square along the other diagonal so the unmarked corners meet. Crease firmly, then unfold.
Your paper should now have two diagonal creases that cross in the middle, forming an X. The center of the X marks the exact middle of the square - which is where the next fold lands.
Take each of the four corners of the square one at a time and fold them inward so the points meet at the center of the X.
Press each fold down firmly. When all four are done, you'll have a smaller square - exactly half the size of the original - with the points all meeting in the middle. The square should sit flat with crisp edges.
Flip the whole square over so the back side is now facing up. The flat side is on top - the side with the points hidden underneath.
Repeat the previous step: fold each of the four corners inward to meet at the center. You'll now have an even smaller square. The two layers of folded points create the four little pockets that the fortune teller plays with.
Fold the small square in half horizontally and crease firmly, then unfold. Fold it in half vertically and crease, then unfold again.
These two extra creases give the fortune teller its hinge - they're what let the four flaps open and close cleanly when you operate it.
Flip the square so the four pockets are facing down. Slide your thumbs and forefingers up into the four pockets - one finger per pocket - and pinch them inward toward the center.
The fortune teller pops open into its classic shape. Open and close it side-to-side and front-to-back as someone counts. Write numbers on the outside flaps, colors inside, and fortunes under the inner flaps to play the full game.
Keep going
How to Make a Paper Ninja Star
More on this topic, picked for this paper fortune teller.
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OLFA 18" x 24" Self-Healing Cutting Mat
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Question 1 of 5
Total folds required to make one?
Quick reference
5 questions, answers, and one-line explanations. Tap to expand.
1.Total folds required to make one?
Answer: 7 folds
Seven folds total, no glue or tape. The seven-step recipe is what the name implies in the title.
2.How do you turn rectangular notebook paper into a square?
Answer: Diagonal fold + tear
Diagonal fold to line up short edge with long edge, then tear off the strip. The triangle unfolds to a perfect square.
3.What does the X of two diagonal creases mark?
Answer: Exact center of square
Two crossed diagonals locate the exact center. All four corners then fold inward to meet at that point.
4.After folding corners to the center, what's next?
Answer: Flip and repeat
Flip the square over and fold all four corners to the center AGAIN. Two layers of folded points create the four playing pockets.
5.How do you operate the finished fortune teller?
Answer: Fingers in pockets
Slide thumbs and forefingers into the four pockets, pinch inward. Opens side-to-side and front-to-back as someone counts.
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