Grab a cootie catcher template for free! Two free printables, one blank printable fortune teller and one chatterbox template.

I always love to see fun paper games come back that I remember fondly as a child. I have such great memories of making and using cootie catchers all the time in grade school.

A cootie catcher or fortune teller or chatterbox (whatever you want to call them!) are super quick and easy to make and can keep kids busy playing the game for quite a while.

Kiddos can get creative and fill in the blank cootie catcher template I have below or grab the already designed chatterbox printable to get them thinking and talking about things. They make great ice breakers, party games, and summer boredom busters too!

chatterbox cootie catcher template printable

There is no physical product, just free printable templates at this bottom of the post for kids to make their own fortune teller.

Table of Contents

What to Write in a Cootie Catcher

There are three main parts of a cootie catcher. On the outside of the paper fortune tellers, there are four sides. You can put almost any image on these sections.

Popular cootie catcher ideas are 4 different colors, 4 different types of fruit or vegetables, 4 different images, really anything that is pretty easy to spell out.

Then the layer inside is almost always numbers. There are numbers on both the chatterbox template and blank cootie catcher template below since they are pretty standard.

Then the phrases that are written can be so diverse! For chatter box template below, the players get to say what their favorite things are. But if you want to use the blank fortune teller template pdf, here are some ideas:

chore cootie catcher – put 8 different chores on the tabs
fortune teller catcher – put 8 different fun possibilities that could happen in the future
school cootie catcher – 8 different questions about what they like about school, favorite book, favorite, subject, etc
Christmas or other holiday cootie catcher – write in fun things to do like sing a Christmas carol, eat a candy cane, kiss under the mistletoe
exercise cootie catcher – write in 8 different exercises and the amount of 8 like 15 jumping jacks, 10 sit-ups, etc
kindness cootie catcher – write in 8 different acts of kindness like giving Dad a hug, giving Mom a flower, etc

How to Fold Cootie Catchers

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There are some printable step by step instructions on how to fold cootie catchers at the bottom and a short video, but sometimes action shots of the paper folds work better!

Once you’ve downloaded and printed the printable fortune teller or chatterbox printable on a sheet of paper, trim off the extra paper of the free printable template on the dotted line.

You want a perfect square. I like to use a paper trimmer, but scissors are perfectly fine!

At this point, if you are using the cootie catcher blank template, fill in the images, your own messages, or color in the corners and whatever words you want in the 8 triangles.

You’ll see me do this in the video (although I didn’t finish writing them all in!)

Fold the square in half horizontally to make a crease line down the middle.

Then open up the paper and fold the square in half vertically to make a crease line.

Then with the square face down, fold each corner into the middle and crease the edge by running your finger over it.

Now flip the folded chatterbox over so the words are facing up and again fold each corner into the center.

Once all the corners are in, flip the cootie catcher back over so the images are showing. Now fold it in half to crease the middle lines.

Now stick your thumb and index finger of each hand in the flaps and push the corners to the middle. Now your cootie catcher is all ready to use!

How to Play the Fortune Teller Paper Game

There are a few different ways to play the cootie catcher game.

The most common way to play the fun paper game is for the player to pick one of the images or colors on the outside of the cootie catcher.

Then the person who is holding the chatterbox will move their fingers in and out so the numbers on the inside switch back and forth. Do this as many times as there are letters in the image or color.

So for example they pick the flower, the holder will switch back and forth as they spell out F-L-O-W-E-R (a great way to practice spelling!). The player then picks one of the numbers that is showing.

Say they pick the number 4. The holder then will switch the cootie catcher 4 more times. Then the player picks a number one more time, reveals what’s under the flap, and answers the question!

Take turns from player to holder going around in a circle if there are a group of players. Such a fun way to spend time together and the best part is it’s free and keeps kids off devices!