:D I have no idea how to really describe what this was, but maybe some of you will know.  Back in the 80s, when we were bored in class (usually just the girls) would fold up this square of paper that you would write questions and answers in, underneath the flaps that were folded into it.  Then someone would pick a number, the person with the paper thing would move the paper flaps back and forth, and you'd have to answer a question - who's the cutest singer, what's your favorite color, etc.  It was really hokey and stupid, but I was trying to make one to show somebody and I can't remember how to fold them. Of course, then they acted  like I had three heads - (which is pretty much what you guys are doing now LOL!)  When I started looking online for how to make it, I realized I had no idea what you call that supid thing.  Am I totally confusing anyone or does anyone know what I'm talking about and, if so, what you call it?

:D I have no idea how to really describe what this was, but maybe some of you will know.  Back in the 80s, when we were bored in class (usually just the girls) would fold up this square of paper that you would write questions and answers in, underneath the flaps that were folded into it.  Then someone would pick a number, the person with the paper thing would move the paper flaps back and forth, and you'd have to answer a question - who's the cutest singer, what's your favorite color, etc.  It was really hokey and stupid, but I was trying to make one to show somebody and I can't remember how to fold them. Of course, then they acted  like I had three heads - (which is pretty much what you guys are doing now LOL!)  When I started looking online for how to make it, I realized I had no idea what you call that supid thing.  Am I totally confusing anyone or does anyone know what I'm talking about and, if so, what you call it?


we didn't put questions and answers, but i do know what you are talking about... we called them fortune tellers.   we would say "pick a number" then "pick another number" then on the inside would be a fortune cookie type phrase.

I remember how to make them if you need help, let me know

:D I have no idea how to really describe what this was, but maybe some of you will know.  Back in the 80s, when we were bored in class (usually just the girls) would fold up this square of paper that you would write questions and answers in, underneath the flaps that were folded into it.  Then someone would pick a number, the person with the paper thing would move the paper flaps back and forth, and you'd have to answer a question - who's the cutest singer, what's your favorite color, etc.  It was really hokey and stupid, but I was trying to make one to show somebody and I can't remember how to fold them. Of course, then they acted  like I had three heads - (which is pretty much what you guys are doing now LOL!)  When I started looking online for how to make it, I realized I had no idea what you call that supid thing.  Am I totally confusing anyone or does anyone know what I'm talking about and, if so, what you call it?
I remember what you mean, it was done when I at school back in the 60s, there again does it have a name?

I remember "Fortune Teller".I always wound up with some stupid answer. ;D

we didn't put questions and answers, but i do know what you are talking about... we called them fortune tellers.  we would say "pick a number" then "pick another number" then on the inside would be a fortune cookie type phrase.

I remember how to make them if you need help, let me know



;D Yep, that's it!  Whew, I figured people would think I was nuts! LOL  That would be awesome if you could give me a reminder or two of how to get them started if you don't mind - you can e-mail me at gapeach324@yahoo.com - or, if if you want to post it here in case anyone else is insterested - whichever is easier.  I tried to make one yesterday, but it looked more like abstract origami! Thanks!!!

ok start with a square paper, and fold the four corners all the way in, until the corners are in the center.

Now you should be looking at a smaller square.

Turn the whole thing over so that the back (the smooth part) is facing you

Fold the four corners of the smaller square in, toward you, until the corners are in the center.

With the part you just folded face UP, fold the whole thing in half.

Put your thumb and forefingers underneath the outer layers and and push inward.

Let me know if that helps... if you're still having trouble I will try to post pictures of how it should look after each step.

I remember these damn things!

Seems like it was an art form that must've died in the 80's as I don't recall seeing one since my junior high years (started high school in '89/90 year).

Whoever figured out how to make these things originally should go to work for NASA.

- Rob

ok start with a square paper, and fold the four corners all the way in, until the corners are in the center.

Now you should be looking at a smaller square.

Turn the whole thing over so that the back (the smooth part) is facing you

Fold the four corners of the smaller square in, toward you, until the corners are in the center.

With the part you just folded face UP, fold the whole thing in half.

Put your thumb and forefingers underneath the outer layers and and push inward.

Let me know if that helps... if you're still having trouble I will try to post pictures of how it should look after each step.


:) Thanks so much for posting this!!  I'm going to try it right now - I'll let you know if I have any trouble, but I think once I get started, it will all come back to me.  Boy, if I had back all the time I spent making those things in 8th grade....Anyway, thanks for helping me bring back a wee bit of my childhood  8)

I think it's a dead art - something that went out with the 80s.  Makes me feel old, kinda like "back when I was a kid, we had to make toys out of paper". LOL!! 

I don't think it's dead, my son came home a few months ago making those things and having me pick numbers all night long... :-*

I remember them....  ;D  I always got bad or stupid answer!  ;D

OMG this is hysterical. I remember these  ;D Completely forgot about them!

I remember some people made TINY TINY ones-dunno how they wrote anything in them. I remember one teacher (Math? History???) who got mad and would take them away and keep you after school for a half hour if he caught you with them. Killjoy....

This is an old game, I used to watch my sisters play it in the 70's... it always started with "What colour do you want?" sung in like a kiddies way.

Ah! Origami...the ancient Japanese art of making a crumpled bit of paper!

I used to know these things as 'salt cellars', basically when you invert the thing on its points, it looks like one...sort-of!

I was quite good at making paper 'gliders' (especially in a boring math lesson), but I couldn't quite get to grips with the 'flapping bird'...

Ah! Origami...the ancient Japanese art of making a crumpled bit of paper!

I used to know these things as 'salt cellars', basically when you invert the thing on its points, it looks like one...sort-of!

I was quite good at making paper 'gliders' (especially in a boring math lesson), but I couldn't quite get to grips with the 'flapping bird'...
To make a Hungry Bat:

http://net4tv.com/voice/graphics/bat_origami.gif

Do you have a a url for that? Can't make out all the steps. That looks cool!

Do you have a a url for that? Can't make out all the steps. That looks cool!
http://www.paperfolding.com/diagrams/

Thank you  :)

Thank you  :)
I do wish to see a picture online of your results.

I remember them....  ;D  I always got bad or stupid answer!  ;D



I remember all the girls were doing Fortune Teller with the guys back in High School. ;D

I do wish to see a picture online of your results.


I'll snap a picture when I do one. Maybe I'll try when I'm watching X Games tonight on ESPN

:) I remember!!!!!!!!!! I used to love those things...We would get bored in class and all make one..and we'd ask if a certain boy liked us or some silly stuff and actually believe the answers..reminds me of the old 8 balls..where you ask a question an turn it over and the little cube would come up and say " maybe" or "try again"..lol...remember the notes back then too...do you want to "go" with me..check box..yes or no...or sometimes we'd put another little box that said maybe...lol..

they are now called cootie catchers and Klutz makes a book showing you how to make them and it comes with pre-fab ones, too!  they are still popular with the kids.  my daughter loves origami and makes all kinds of cool stuff!

:D..Cootie Catchers huh?? Thats soo funny..Ill have to show my daughter how to make one..havent seen one lately with the kids now..

I used to know these things as 'salt cellars', basically when you invert the thing on its points, it looks like one...sort-of!



That's the name given in my brother's Origami book.


they are now called cootie catchers


What's a cootie?

I remember them! I can't recall what we called them.  Sometimes they were filled with insults.

What's a cootie?


Girl Germs  :D

Girl Germs  :D


thanks mrgazpacho

which also helps to explain part of a Calvin and Hobbes cartoon.  Calvin accidently ends up on the payground with only the girls around and he puts up his t-shirt as a breathing mask and says something about it being "Cootie Central"

Girl Germs  :D


hmmm...i always thought they were BOY germs!!  ;D

i thought they were head lice... aka anybodys germs!

they are now called cootie catchers and Klutz makes a book showing you how to make them and it comes with pre-fab ones, too!  they are still popular with the kids.  my daughter loves origami and makes all kinds of cool stuff!


We called them cootie catchers back in elementary school. I was just thinking about those things last night :)

ok start with a square paper, and fold the four corners all the way in, until the corners are in the center.

Now you should be looking at a smaller square.

Turn the whole thing over so that the back (the smooth part) is facing you

Fold the four corners of the smaller square in, toward you, until the corners are in the center.

With the part you just folded face UP, fold the whole thing in half.

Put your thumb and forefingers underneath the outer layers and and push inward.

Let me know if that helps... if you're still having trouble I will try to post pictures of how it should look after each step.


I can't get it to work. please help!! ty ty ty!!

i remember that! heh the kids in my school called them "Cootie Catchers"

i thought they were head lice... aka anybodys germs!


We knew them as 'nits'...

Not sure whether schools still have 'em, but we used to have the occasional visit from the 'nit nurse' - a formidable lady who used to go through every kids' hair with the traditional steel comb and a bowl of disinfectant...happy days!

We knew them as 'nits'...

Not sure whether schools still have 'em, but we used to have the occasional visit from the 'nit nurse' - a formidable lady who used to go through every kids' hair with the traditional steel comb and a bowl of disinfectant...happy days!
Why did the 'nit nurse' always looked like Hattis Jacques?

You were hoping for Joan Sims? :P

You were hoping for Joan Sims? :P
Valerie Leon would have been perfect!

I thought I would bump this because we were talking about those fortune teller paper things in another thread recently, and this thread has instructions on how to make them.  A great board AND educational too.  ;D

I don't think it's dead, my son came home a few months ago making those things and having me pick numbers all night long... :-*



My 8 year old had one a few weeks back.....with the lamest quotes written in it that didn't make any sense. ;D  (this is in Australia)

I also remember them from my childhood.........all those years ago in the 60's.

We used to call them 'Chatterboxes' here in Western Australia and they were always filled with insults. Haha. My mum recons she used to make them as a kid in the 50s too, so seems like they have been around forever.

http://www.tappi.org/paperu/images/Seven.jpg

Looks like there are pre-printed ones now too. I much prefer the silly made up insults. Like, 'you stink', 'you have warts'....all kids silly stuff :)

I need to make one of these for my important life decisions.

How to Make a Paper Fortune Teller on YouTube

The correct name is Cootie Catcher.  It is a game from Germany.

Oh geez...my girlfriend just made one of these a couple weeks back.  ;D

The girls had cootie catchers, and the boys had...PAPER FOOTBALL!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbFyb5pLLLQ

The correct name is Cootie Catcher.  It is a game from Germany.
What was it called in Germany?

:D I have no idea how to really describe what this was, but maybe some of you will know.  Back in the 80s, when we were bored in class (usually just the girls) would fold up this square of paper that you would write questions and answers in, underneath the flaps that were folded into it.  Then someone would pick a number, the person with the paper thing would move the paper flaps back and forth, and you'd have to answer a question - who's the cutest singer, what's your favorite color, etc.  It was really hokey and stupid, but I was trying to make one to show somebody and I can't remember how to fold them. Of course, then they acted  like I had three heads - (which is pretty much what you guys are doing now LOL!)  When I started looking online for how to make it, I realized I had no idea what you call that supid thing.  Am I totally confusing anyone or does anyone know what I'm talking about and, if so, what you call it?


This is awesome!  I so remember those things and my son is in the first grade this year and brought one home and wanted to make one, but I couldn't remember how to make it.  I looked on the computer and this was the first thing I found and it gave me exactly what I needed.  It is amazing how much you forget between now and back in the 80's.  This was great and helped alot.  Thanks for asking and I thank the person for giving us directions.  I did remember it once I started doing it again.

We called them cootie catchers in school too.  Never heard them called a fortune teller.  I never really liked them but I made a few just so I could do it.

Other things that were commonly folded were those 4 pointed throwing stars.  I learned how to make those.  Then I started making throwing pentagons to be a little different.  One kid taught me how to make the common origami pterodactyl, and after that I learned how to make a bunch of things.

I always knew it as a "Fortune Teller game"; that is, when I first heard a term for it.

We had fortune tellers back in the 70s.

its called a COOTIE CATCHER!!! lol i loved making them and do today with my 13 year old son its great fun  :D

And now for some real paper folding.  One piece of paper, folded:

http://images.sodahead.com/slideshows/000013451/4113793027_origami_swan_by_phissen-57314596238_xlarge.jpeg

its called a COOTIE CATCHER!!! lol i loved making them and do today with my 13 year old son its great fun  :D


cootie catcher? Are you sure that's what it was called?  ???

It was called "Fortune Teller".

And now for some real paper folding.  One piece of paper, folded:

http://images.sodahead.com/slideshows/000013451/4113793027_origami_swan_by_phissen-57314596238_xlarge.jpeg


That's really cool looking.  How big did that piece of paper have to be?  6 feet by 10 feet?  ;D

You could make that swan into a fortune teller, maybe write stuff under his wings and tail?  :D

That's really cool looking.  How big did that piece of paper have to be?  6 feet by 10 feet?  ;D

You could make that swan into a fortune teller, maybe write stuff under his wings and tail?  :D


There was a special on PBS, "Between the Folds" about some real serious smart guys who have taken origami to a new level they take paper and use geometric equations to map out a plan and make really elaborate works. It can be seen on Netflix.  Keep in mind all these foldings are made with one folded and refolded piece(no cutting allowed) of paper.

http://fabulouspapers.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/mens-et-manus-origami.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s-zJi--xTrc/Tk1aJGvQdUI/AAAAAAAAMC4/cPtetWivsb8/s1600/Money-Origami-Bear.jpg

http://www.topdesignmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/origami-swan.jpg

There was a special on PBS, "Between the Folds" about some real serious smart guys who have taken origami to a new level they take paper and use geometric equations to map out a plan and make really elaborate works. It can be seen on Netflix.  Keep in mind all these foldings are made with one folded and refolded piece(no cutting allowed) of paper.

http://fabulouspapers.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/mens-et-manus-origami.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s-zJi--xTrc/Tk1aJGvQdUI/AAAAAAAAMC4/cPtetWivsb8/s1600/Money-Origami-Bear.jpg

http://www.topdesignmag.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/04/origami-swan.jpg


Those are really beautiful.  :)

It was called "Fortune Teller".

That's what I always knew it as.

I call them Cootie Catchers.  I don't remember where I first heard that term and I'm not sure if my classmates and I called them that back in school, but I picked it up somewhere.

It was called

"You're a homo."

:D

It was called

"You're a homo."

:D


;D

I did this all the time c.1981 in middle school.  I don't know if we called it anything.  Unfortunately I don't remember how to do it - but we did have to start out with a square, so had to cut off a section of standard paper.  Recently I saw 1 of these in a picture, I think on TV but don't recall what it was or where.