School Paper Games

Fortune Tellers

• Fortune tellers are an origami craft where a piece of paper is folded to make a handheld device. The player getting her fortune told chooses a color from the four outer panels and the handler changes how the device is open once for each letter in the color. The player being read then selects a number from the inner panel, with the manipulations repeated, and finally a second number, at which point a flap is folded up to offer an answer to the question posed.

M.A.S.H.

• Similar to the fortune teller, M.A.S.H. is a game that revolves around predicting the future. Players write "MASH" at the top of the page, then four groups of five items, with groups of careers, cities of residence, numbers of children and spouses. A spiral is drawn on the page until the player being predicted says "stop," at which point the rings are counted. The players then count through the items written, including the four letters of "MASH" and cross out each item that matches the number of rings until one of each category remains. The results show who the player will marry, how many children she will have, what she will do for a living and the city and type of home she will live in, with the four letters standing for mansion, apartment, shack and house.

Paper Football

• Paper football is a table-top game played by folding a piece of paper to make a paper triangle. Players sit on opposite sides of the table and take turns attempting to slide the triangle so it hangs over the other player's table edge without falling off the table. If a player leaves a triangle hanging over the edge, he scores a touchdown for six points, then attempts to flick the triangle through a goal post made with his opponent's hands to score a seventh point.

Dots and Boxes

• Dots and boxes is a strategy game where players take turns filling in one line of a grid pattern, with the goal of completing as many boxes as possible. The game can be played on a blank piece of paper with a grid created by drawing dots to show the corners of the boxes, or simply on a piece of graph paper. To succeed at dots and boxes, never put a third line on a square unless you have no other options.