It’s great fun, and they’ll be reinforcing their reading skills and spreading positive vibes as they play. Count that number/letter out loud while flipping the origami toy. Your little one can read the fortunes of family and friends as many times as they like. In this video, I show you how to make a fortune teller out of paper You need a square piece of paper, but I show you how to turn a rectangular sheet of prin. If you land on the numbers, let them pick a number, same for letters. Origami is the Japanese word for 'paper-folding,' though the art of paper-folding arose separately in Japan, China, and Europe at different times. Lift the flap with the number they chose and read their fortune. Cootie catchers, sometimes known as paper fortune tellers, have long been a favorite activity of elementary-and middle-schoolers, but folks of all ages can enjoy these origami paper crafts. This is the flap that will be opened to reveal their fortune. Stop when you get to the designated number.įinally, the person chooses one last number, from those showing on the segments you landed on this time. Keep the fortune-teller open to the segment visible when you say the last letter, and have the person choose one of the numbers showing.Ĭount the number out loud, opening the fortune-teller on each count (again, alternate opening horizontally and vertically). Say one one letter each time you open the fortune-teller. Spell the word aloud while using your fingers to make the fortune-teller open and close horizontally and vertically, alternating between the two ways to open. To tell someone’s fortune, have them choose a word from the outside flaps.

This game even builds mindfulness, as kids share positive messages and concentrate on hopeful wishes for the future.

STEP 2: Now choose one of the numbers on the inside of the fortune teller. For example, if you pick bee, spell the three letters B-E-E out loud, and open and close the fortune teller 3 times. Kids won’t even realize they’re practicing as they read the same sight words (or sound out the same longer words) over and over while telling their friends’ and family’s fortunes. Then spell the word out loud while opening and closing the fortune teller in alternating directions as you spell each letter. In this literacy craft, telling fortunes creates the perfect opportunity to work on reading skills. So people born in the year of the rabbit will experience the year of the ox very differently than those born in the year of the dragon.īecause of this belief that each year holds different surprises for different people, the Spring Festival is also a time of fortune-telling-something we can use as the basis of a fun and brain-boosting Lunar New Year activity for kids.

Similarly, different years are believed to hold different fortunes for people depending on their birth animal’s relationship with that year’s animal. For example, those born in the year of the rabbit are supposed to be gentle and kind, while those born in the year of the tiger are considered courageous. People born in the year of a particular animal are said to possess some of that animal’s qualities. In this tradition, each year is the year of a different zodiac animal. This Spring Festival is a time to greet the Lunar New Year and welcome a new animal from the Chinese zodiac. As spring begins, so does a new year for people from certain cultural traditions, including the Chinese tradition that my family follows.

Spelling word origami fortune teller