Christmas Fortune Tellers
I predict that you'll get….woken up early on Christmas Morning! 😉
My kids keep telling me they will sleep in, but I'm putting more faith in my Christmas fortune teller than their promises, no matter how lovingly they make them.
Actually this whole Christmas Morning thing is new to me in adulthood. My grandmother was from Austria and as a kid I thought the 24th was Christmas because we always celebrated and opened gifts on Christmas Eve. This suited my grandmother well also, because she loved to sleep in – she preferred not to be spoken with before 10am, which she deemed, “a decent time in the morning.”
So, at any rate. Christmas Fortune Tellers – These are very easy to fold up and can be used to tell stories and make up fortunes about the exciting things Santa will bring on Christmas morning. I think that for most of us my little prediction above will come true, but maybe we'll wear out these kids with snow play the day before? Otherwise I'm just glad that Santa always remembers to put a breakfast bar in the stocking!
You can see how to fold a fortune teller in this video. She has a follow up video where she does the end step very slowly so you can better see how the corners pop up. See her video description for the link to that if you need help with that.
We decorated with a bunch of Christmas stickers. I also made a fortune teller that I drew pictures on rather than using stickers. You can write fortunes under the flaps, give a conversation starter or just stick pictures there as well. If your kids are into drawing or writing, this is a great little art project for Christmas Eve – they can get as complex as they like on their decorating and then tell your fortune over and over.
As you can see the one pictured above is all stickers. My kids just pick a word and use the syllables to open and close the fortune teller so or-na-ment would be three openings. Then pick a picture on one of the flaps and repeat: pre-sents. Then pick a flap and open it to reveal your fortune. With the pictures the kids make up what the picture means for a fortune.
You can also use these for story prompts – tell a little story about whichever picture you find under the flap, or tell a Christmas memory that this picture makes you think about.
Conversation Starters you can put under the flaps:
- Who are you thinking about and sending Christmas wishes to?
- What do you think Santa likes about Christmas?
- Tell a favorite Christmas memory.
- Tell a Christmas joke.
- Describe your favorite Christmas food and see if we can guess what it is.
- Tell what you're excited about for tomorrow.
- Tell something you've loved about Christmas so far this year.
- Sing a Christmas Carol.
Wishing you a very Merry Christmas. May you find awe in the ordinary and wonder in in your children's faces. You are the magic makers of their childhood and they will forgive any imperfections if you focus on the love and laughter that you can bring to these days.
Alissa Zorn is an author, and founder of the website Overthought This. She's a coach and cartoonist passionate about helping people overcome perfectionism and shame to build authentic, joyful lives. Alissa is certified through the International Coach Federation and got her Trauma-Informed Coaching certification from Moving the Human Spirit. She wrote Bounceback Parenting: A Field Guide for Creating Connection, Not Perfection, and is always following curiosity to find her next creative endeavor.