Paper Craft for Kids – Make an Easy Origami Game to Play

Oct 13, 2011
Carol Wells

Design a colorful origami game to play. - Image by Carol Wells

With just a piece of paper and some marking pens, you have the makings for a craft, an art project, and a fun activity all rolled (or folded ...) into one.

Origami refers to the Japanese art of paper folding. Birds and other animals have been popular subjects for paper folding for hundreds of years. Another popular origami project is called the "fortune teller." The following craft directions are for a revamped version of this old favorite. Turn the fortune teller into a game of trivia questions, brainteasers, and fun activities. And when you're not playing with it, display it as a colorful work of art.

Fold the Paper

Bring a short side of a standard piece of copy paper to meet a long side. Crease the fold.
Cut away the single thickness of paper along the edge of the folded section and save it for another use.
Unfold the 8 1/2-inch square and fold it diagonally in the other direction. Crease the fold.
Unfold the paper and lay it flat. Bring each corner to meet the center point, being careful not to overlap the folded sections. Crease each fold. (See illustration 2 following this article.)
Flip the paper over and bring each corner to meet the center point. Crease each fold. (See illustration 2. )

Decorate the Paper

On the side facing up, outline each of the eight small triangles with a black marker.
Fill in each triangle with a different color. (See illustration 3.)
Flip the paper over.
Outline the squares with a black marker.
Draw two black squiggly lines from one side of each outlined square to another side.
Use eight colors to fill in the designs in the squares, two colors for each square. (See illustration 3.)

Hide the Questions and Tasks

In the traditional origami fortune-teller game, one player tells the other player something about his future, such as "You will be rich and famous" or "You will ace your math test." In this origami game, you'll ask the other player to answer questions or perform silly tasks, eight of which you've hidden underneath the small triangles. (See illustration 4.) Following are some suggestions for questions and tasks:

What are three girls' names beginning with "M"?
What are three boys' names beginning with "J"?
Name three of the Seven Dwarfs.
Name three planets.
What are three flowers beginning with "D"?
Name three words that rhyme with "ran."
Name three words that rhyme with "dog."
Sing a song in a really high voice.
Sing a song in a really low voice.
Make a scary face.
Make a funny face.
How many pennies in $5.00?
How many dimes in $5.00?
Spell your name . . . backward.
How many months have 30 days? (Trick question! Eleven months have at least 30 days.)

Tip: If you write the questions and tasks in pencil, you can erase them and change them periodically to create a brand-new game.

Prepare the Game

Fold the paper in half so that two squares are facing you and two squares are facing away from you. Repeat in the other direction.
Insert the thumb and index finger of your left hand underneath two adjoining square flaps and the thumb and index finger of your right hand underneath the other two flaps.
Push the squares upward to resemble an umbrella.
Practice opening and closing the game by moving your index fingers away from you and your thumbs toward you, then pressing your fingers and thumbs together and pulling the paper to the sides.

Play the Game

Instruct the other player to select one of the eight colors on the squares.
As you spell out the color's name, open the game in one direction for the first letter, then close it and open it in the other direction for the next letter, and so on until you've spelled out the entire word.
Ask the other player to choose one of the four triangles exposed when you said the last letter. Repeat the previous step.
Ask the player choose a color from the newly exposed triangles.
Flatten the paper, lift the flap of the selected triangle, and give the player his question or task.

Note to children learning to spell: Ask an adult to print the colors' names in matching marking pens in the white borders of the squares.

An easy-to-take-along origami game is fun to play anywhere. Now that you know how to make this craft, you'll be able to teach the paper-folding techniques to your friends. And when you're not playing with your game, you can use it as a pretty decoration for your room.