The fortune teller template, flat and folded
What this template is for
The cootie catcher: a square with all its fold lines printed and numbered, ready to fold into the four-pocket fortune teller. Write colours, numbers and fortunes under the flaps. Kids' parties, classrooms and rainy days.
Also called cootie catcher · paper fortune teller · chatterbox origami · salt cellar origami — all the same shape, and this is it.
- Kids’ parties and sleepovers
- Classroom games and quizzes
- Birthday and party favours
- Rainy-day crafts
How to use this template
All four downloads are the same fortune teller at the same size — only the format changes.
- PDF printing at home
- Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
- PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
- Upload, lock it in place and design your fortune teller on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
- SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
- Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
- DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
- Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.
Printing it
- Type your size above, then download the PDF.
- Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
- Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.
How to put it together
These pictures are the fortune teller itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.
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Cut the solid lines
Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.
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Score every dashed line
Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.
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Fold, glue and hold
Cut out the square. Fold on the lines in the order of their numbers: 1 crease both diagonals; 2 fold the four corners to the middle; turn it over; 3 fold the four new corners to the middle; 4 crease it in half both ways. Write a colour on each outside square, a number on each inside triangle and a fortune under each inside flap. Push the four squares up to a point with thumbs and fingers.
Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let the box dry standing up.
Questions about the fortune teller
- How do I fold it?
- Follow the numbers: crease both diagonals (1), fold the corners to the middle (2), turn it over and fold the new corners to the middle (3), then crease it in half both ways (4). Push the four outside squares up to a point.
- Where do the colours and fortunes go?
- Colours on the four outside squares, numbers on the eight triangles inside, and a fortune under each of the eight inside flaps. Write them once it is folded, so each lands in the right place.
- What size is best?
- A 150–200 mm square suits children’s hands. It opens at 180 mm, which prints on A4 or US Letter.
Print your own design on it
Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the fortune teller. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.
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