ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Paper fortune teller

Hey kiddo, have you ever seen or played with a paper fortune teller before? No? Well, let me explain to you. It's like a magical piece of paper that can tell your fortune or predict your future, but really it's just a fun game.

First, take a plain square piece of paper and fold it in half diagonally to form a triangle. Then, fold it in half again the same way to make a smaller triangle. Unfold the paper, and you should have a crease in the middle both ways.

Now, you'll need to choose some colors and write them on the outside flaps of the paper. Each color represents a different category, like emotions, people, or places. For example, you could choose blue for emotions, yellow for people, green for places, and red for actions.

Inside the flaps, write some numbers on each side. These will be your choices for your fortune. Open the flaps to reveal the numbers, and then pick one. Move the fortune teller back and forth horizontally and vertically, counting up to the number you picked. For example, if you picked 4, you would move the fortune teller four times.

Next, pick a color from the outside flaps and spell it out while moving the fortune teller back and forth. Each time you spell out a letter, you move the fortune teller horizontally or vertically. After the color is spelled out, pick another color and repeat the process.

Once you've finished spelling out the colors, pick one of the flaps to reveal your fortune! It might tell you something silly, like "you will become a mermaid," or something helpful, like "you will do well on your test."

So that's how you play with a paper fortune teller. It's a fun game to play with your friends and family, and maybe you'll even learn something about yourself in the process. Have fun!