Today we are making a paper fortune teller math game for kids needing to practice their fractions and multiplication facts. Do you remember paper fortune tellers? They were *the* rage when I was a kid. We are going to use a paper fortune teller to introduce my kiddos to the joy of Cootie catchers while reviewing math lessons.
DIY Math Games for Kids to Make Math Fun
Math is one of those subjects that very few people enjoy. It is tedious and hard, but it doesn’t have to be if you make it a fun game.
We have come up with so many ways to make math fun:
Make a Math Fortune Teller Game
But today we made two paper games, one to review fractions and another to review times tables.
How to Make a Paper Fortune Teller
- Basically, you start with a square piece of paper.
- Fold the corner into the center.
- Repeat for all four corners folding into the center.
- Until you have all four corners folded to the center.
- Flip it over and fold the corners into the center again.
- Until you have all four corners folded to the center.
- You then fold it like a hot dog – with the thumb flaps on the outside. Your kids stick their fingers into the flaps and move them to reveal the inside. Your kids can lift the inside flaps to see another message.
- Write the messages or numbers on the flaps. We used math as our “messages” inside the classic fortune teller.
- Place fingers into the paper fortune teller and move both in and out.
Related: Check out our reading fortune teller game: Learning to Read CVC words
Times Tables Game on Paper Fortune Teller
For our multiplication cootie catcher, we wrote each “family” of math problems on the outer flaps.
The tables we are working on with our second grader are 2, 3, 4 & 5s – so I wrote those numbers on the outside.
Inside the flaps we have the numbers written out by skip counting.
So as your kids move the paper game, they choose between the different “groups” of skip-count numbers. When they lift the flap, there are four multiplication problems for them to solve.
Paper Fractions Game on Paper Fortune Teller
For the fractions game, draw a circle on each of the four main sections. Break the circle apart into “fractions.
We did the following fractions on our catcher: 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, & 1/5.
The next level of flaps the kids had to figure out which “flap” matched the circle. Even though my kids are learning just the fractions, I wrote the decimal number beside “the answer” to try to help them begin matching the two numbers together.
When the kids pull up the flap, they see another “problem”. They had to color in the fraction amount on the bar using their finger.
I loved seeing the kids put their math lessons into their pockets and carry them around practicing them throughout the day!
More Math Games & Ideas from Kids Activities Blog
How did your kids like the paper fortune teller math game?