In case you do not remember (although we know that you made at least 50 of them back in your elementary school days), paper fortune tellers are quite simple and easy to assemble. All you need is one piece of paper, a pair of scissors and a pen, a marker or pencil.
First take a corner of the sheet of paper. Bring it down across to the other side and then cut off the remaining paper underneath the fold.
Doing this will make the paper square if it is not already square.
Next fold all four corners into the center of the paper to make the points touch. This shape is known as a blintz base or a cushion fold in origami. The sheet should now be another perfect square so turn it over and do the same thing to the other side.
Finally, fold all of the outer corners up so that they touch and there are pockets on the bottom for your fingers to control the fortune teller!
There are four flaps on the outside of the fortune teller and eight on the inside. Anything from colors to numbers to animals to random words can be written on each flap. A player can then choose from the options in order to have their fortune revealed on the innermost flap.
Of course being the rowdy, pre-pubescent and secretive elementary school children that we all were, we did not just use these little pieces of origami to tell our future but also our crushes! Everybody hoped that their fortune teller would come out with Vinnie’s name and was less than pleased when it read “Jonathan” in thin letters.
Don’t be surprised if your grandparents know a thing or two about these origami fortune tellers. Murray and Rigney first introduced them in the United States back in 1928 as “Salt Cellars” in the origami book Fun with Paper Folding. Its original intent was to hold small pieces of food. This shape has been used as a fortune teller since the 1950s in England and the United States but has also been recorded as a cootie catcher! They are used under this name as toys that imitate the act of catching insects like lice, other tiny animals and especially cooties! For the record: Only boys have cooties, not girls.
Don’t be afraid to bring this childhood memory here to Hopkins and make yourself a fortune teller (or cootie catcher if you prefer)! There are so many different ways to use them for fun even as young adults! You could write the names of your roommates and different chores on the flaps to make the chores more entertaining or even groceries so that everybody buys something different.
Another option is to write your top eight movie picks for a Friday Netflix-and-takeout movie night. You could even write funny scenarios on the inside flaps that your friends will have to enact when they get that fortune. The possibilities are endless. Don’t be afraid to bring this elementary school hobby to Hopkins! Sure you may feel a little stupid folding the fortune teller. Nevertheless the minute you pull that out at a gathering, your friends’ laughter will not subside.
