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Folding Paper Games for Teens

There are many games and activities involving paper folding. Most of these games are useful in school or home environments because of their therapeutic value. Often, teenagers need relaxation techniques and calming strategies more than people of any other age. By learning these paper-folding games, teenagers will lower their stress levels and learn new and creative ways to express themselves.

Origami Puzzles
- Origami, the art of creating three-dimensional objects by folding paper, is a great relaxation technique you can work into any class, whether the art form relates to the subject or not. Turn this technique into a game by giving your students instructions on how to build three-dimensional geometric shapes that fit together like puzzle pieces. When all the students finish, they must search the classroom for the three-dimensional piece that fits into their own piece. As skill levels increase, the complexity of the pieces can also increase.
Paper Sports
- In order to teach teenagers something new while relating to their current passions, create a miniature version of their favorite sport using folded paper. For years, children have been folding paper into triangular wedges that represent footballs to be kicked through miniature goals. But with a little imagination, students can fold their way to paper basketball hoops and paper soccer goals, miniature paper bats and folded paper gloves.
Historical Role-Play
- As part of a larger role playing game, choose an ancient society that used the paper hand fan (China, Japan, Spain, etc.) and tell your students to do some research before creating a paper fan that represents a certain person or group in that society. Students should color and design their folded fans and then use the fans during the historical role-play. Depending on the type of role-playing game you create, you can also use the fans as prizes for winning teams and students.
The Fortune-Telling Game
- Kids love telling fortunes through a paper toy.
  
  To create a flower-like fortune teller, students must use a perfectly square piece of paper. After folding the paper into smaller and smaller squares, students will have a puppet-like paper contraption that can be opened and closed in many different areas to reveal words that students have written on the inside of the paper flower. Students ask each other questions, and then manipulate the paper flower to "find" the answer. For directions, see mathematische-basteleien.de/fortune_teller.htm.

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