Cootie Catcher

1. Pick a color. It starts as pink, blue, green, and yellow.

2. The catcher spells it, opening up-and-down and side-to-side. PINK is four flips. YELLOW is six.

3. Pick a number you can see inside. It counts to that number the same way.

4. Pick one last number. That flap lifts, and the fortune is underneath.

Writing your own

Fill it in yourself opens the editor. You can rename the colors and swap their marker shades, change any number to anything from 1 to 12, and put your own fortune under each flap. The catcher opens to the spot you're editing, so you see the ink go on as you type. A 12 takes a while.

Random fortunes fills all eight flaps. Your version stays in this browser. Back to the original wipes it, and Done, let's play closes the editor.

Send to a friend copies a link with this catcher packed into it. The writing is compressed, then turned into a string of letters and numbers, so the link carries the whole catcher. Your friend opens the link and plays your version. The catcher saved in their browser stays put until they edit this one.

What you type is yours. We don't keep a copy. The link is the copy, and anyone with it can read the fortunes. A fortune is a game, including one a friend wrote. The terms of use say what you can put in a catcher.

The paper kind

Start with a square of notebook paper. Fold all four corners into the middle, flip it, and fold the new corners into the middle again. Fold it in half, then push your fingers up into the pockets from underneath. Colors go on the four outside squares. The inside gets eight numbers, and a fortune goes under each one.