How to Make a Cootie Catcher

Pick a color! Pick a number! Pick another and let your cootie catcher tell you a fortune. Children have fun asking their friends to choose colors and numbers but the best part is reading the fortune they pick at the end. Make a cootie catcher for a child by following these directions.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Paper
• Pen or Pencil

Making a Cootie Catcher

1. Place a blank piece of paper on a table in front of you, short side at the top. You can use any size paper but 8.5 x 11-in. paper works fine. Take the bottom right corner and fold it diagonally so that the corner touches the left side of the paper.

2. Press the crease so that the bottom edge of the paper lines up evenly with the left side of the paper. The folded part should look like a triangle.

3. Cut the extra paper off at the top along the top edge of the folded page. Your folded page is now a triangle.

4. Open the folded paper. Your page is now a perfect square with a crease down the middle. Take the left corner of the paper and fold it diagonally so that the corners touch. Press the fold down. Open your paper again. There are now two creases which meet in the middle of the page.

5. Fold the bottom left corner so that the corner tip is now in the center of the square (or page). Press flat and leave it folded. Fold the bottom right corner so that the corner tip is now in the center of the square. Press flat and leave it folded. Repeat for the two remaining corners until all the corners are folded.

6. Flip the folded paper over. Fold a corner inward so that the corner tip again meets in the middle. Press each fold flat. Repeat for each corner.

7. Fold the square in half. Press the fold down. Unfold. Fold other way from right to left. Insert your pointer fingers and your thumbs into the flaps underneath.

Decorating the Cootie Catcher

8. Write a color on the outside flaps where your fingers are inserted. You will write four different colors.

9. Flip over the cootie catcher. Open the cootie catcher. There are four triangles inside. Write a number on each half of the triangle so that you have eight numbers when you are finished.

10. Lift up each triangle. Write a fortune or a fun saying under each triangle half. You will write eight fortunes.

11. Fold the cootie catcher back up so the fortunes are hidden. Your cootie catcher is now ready to use. Insert your pointer fingers and thumbs to play.

Tips & Warnings

• Do not overlap any folds when you are folding the paper.