How to make a paper fortune teller
Pick a colour, pick a number, read your fortune. Here's a paper fortune teller (cootie catcher), step by step: a diagram for every fold below, and every step playing in 3D in Crease, so you can watch the paper move and turn it round.
You need: a square of paper (15 cm or 6 in is ideal). Coloured on one side is best, but any paper works.
Free in your browser. Watch each fold, slow it down, turn it round.
Step by step
The dashed line is a valley fold (fold towards you); dash-dot is a mountain fold (fold behind). The arrow shows where the paper goes.
Fold the paper corner to corner both ways, opening it each time, to find the middle.
Fold all four corners in to meet in the middle.
Turn it over.
Fold all four corners in to the middle again. Write a number on each of the eight little triangles.
Fold it in half both ways and open it each time. Lift the flaps and write a fortune under each one.
Turn it over and push your thumbs and fingers into the four pockets. Pick a colour, a number… and read your fortune!
Done! Well folded.
Tips
- Line up the corners or edges first, then press the crease flat from the middle outwards.
- Run a fingernail along every crease: sharp creases make the later steps easier.
- Stuck on a step? Open Fortune teller in Crease and watch it fold in 3D, as slowly as you like.
More easy origami
Origami for beginners: the folds, the bases and where to start →