Need Ideas for Tween Fortune Teller
October 22, 2009 8:11 AM Subscribe
My co-worker is hosting a Halloween-birthday party for her tween daughter and friends. Her daughter has decided she'd like to tell fortunes at her party and we're trying to come up with some cool, funny tween-friendly fortunes. Any ideas would be welcome.
At sleepovers at that age my girlfriends and I would play a version of MASH with a regular deck of playing cards. It felt like telling fortunes, mostly because of the dramatic card turning, and it kept us entertained for hours.
First, take a deck of playing cards and remove the four kings (or four queens depending on the object of your affection). The person whose fortune is being read (hereafter known as the 'readee') will assign four boys to represented by each of the kings in this order: king of diamonds (boy who the readee thinks will be rich), king of hearts (boy liked by the readee), king of clubs (guy friend of readee) and king of spades (boy hated by readee).
The fortune teller will then take the remainder of the cards and flip them over one by one into four piles, one beneath each king starting with the king of diamonds, once a question is asked. If the card in the pile matches the suit of the king above it that indicates a positive answer.
For example, someone asks something like "Who is most likely to be eaten by shark?" The teller flips one card onto the king of diamonds and it's the two of spades. She flips another one into the pile underneath the king of hearts and it's a jack of diamonds. Then she flips a four of clubs onto the pile belonging to the king of clubs, indicating a match. That means that the friend of the readee is most likely to be eaten by the shark.
If there is no match after one round, the teller will keep going in order until there is one. The teller will also pick up with the next question where she left off instead of starting over at the king of diamonds. The question asking goes until the deck is expended. Anyone can ask a question and silly ones are encouraged.
Finally, the cards beneath each king can be counted up to tell what kind of future the readee could have with any of the gentlemen. The number of diamonds indicates wealth; the number of hearts determines level of love; the number of clubs is the number of children; the number of spades is number of fights every year.
Then the cards are shuffled and it's someone else's turn.
posted by Alison at 8:40 AM on October 22, 2009
First, take a deck of playing cards and remove the four kings (or four queens depending on the object of your affection). The person whose fortune is being read (hereafter known as the 'readee') will assign four boys to represented by each of the kings in this order: king of diamonds (boy who the readee thinks will be rich), king of hearts (boy liked by the readee), king of clubs (guy friend of readee) and king of spades (boy hated by readee).
The fortune teller will then take the remainder of the cards and flip them over one by one into four piles, one beneath each king starting with the king of diamonds, once a question is asked. If the card in the pile matches the suit of the king above it that indicates a positive answer.
For example, someone asks something like "Who is most likely to be eaten by shark?" The teller flips one card onto the king of diamonds and it's the two of spades. She flips another one into the pile underneath the king of hearts and it's a jack of diamonds. Then she flips a four of clubs onto the pile belonging to the king of clubs, indicating a match. That means that the friend of the readee is most likely to be eaten by the shark.
If there is no match after one round, the teller will keep going in order until there is one. The teller will also pick up with the next question where she left off instead of starting over at the king of diamonds. The question asking goes until the deck is expended. Anyone can ask a question and silly ones are encouraged.
Finally, the cards beneath each king can be counted up to tell what kind of future the readee could have with any of the gentlemen. The number of diamonds indicates wealth; the number of hearts determines level of love; the number of clubs is the number of children; the number of spades is number of fights every year.
Then the cards are shuffled and it's someone else's turn.
posted by Alison at 8:40 AM on October 22, 2009
"You will be taking a trip to LA soon, with nothing but a dream and a cardigan." I'd review top 40 pop hits and work the lyrics into fortunes. My only knowledge of things that tween girls like is pop music (and singing it loudly) and tween boys with mussy hair.
posted by syntheticfaith at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2009
posted by syntheticfaith at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2009
In a spooky fortune-teller voice: "This is... very important... You must never.... believe.... the advice... of a fortune teller."
posted by rokusan at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2009
posted by rokusan at 8:41 AM on October 22, 2009
I just had a fortune teller for my almost-tween's party. It was such a hit that a couple of months later, the kids are still talking about it, and one of them wrote a paper for her 4th grade class about it! SO here's what worked so well for us:
I hired our babysitter to be the fortune teller and told her to totally dress up for it (full fortune teller regalia with lots of eyeliner, etc.) When the kids were busy with something else, I snuck her into the house and put her in the basement room which I'd filled with about 30 votive candles. She lit the candles, then waited for us in a deep chair shrouded with a translucent lavender curtain draping the chair from floor to ceiling, where I'd thumb tacked it up (an old curtain from Ikea).
When the kids came down for the surprise, she emerged in her splendid fortune teller get-up in the candle lit room and the kids were speechless. She had them sit in a circle. Out came a velvet pouch filled with little charms she'd put together: a small train, a candy heart, a foreign coin, and a bunch of others. She said that each item symbolized something: wealth, travel, love, beauty, adventure, friendship, truth, etc.
She had each child take a turn dumping the pouch out. then she "read" their fortune by interpreting which way the charms fell. For example, travel points to love, etc. She decided which charm was the most important of the reading and at the end of the whole thing, gave one to each kid. (So you have to make sure there's enough if you want to give them out at the end.)
The kids were enthralled. You need a pretty creative, imaginative person to do this -- a friend or babysitter type -- as a kind of improv.
Then, after that, if anyone's scared or freaked out, what rokusan said.
This was pretty much the best party game we'd ever done. Hope they have fun!
posted by keener_sounds at 9:32 AM on October 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
I hired our babysitter to be the fortune teller and told her to totally dress up for it (full fortune teller regalia with lots of eyeliner, etc.) When the kids were busy with something else, I snuck her into the house and put her in the basement room which I'd filled with about 30 votive candles. She lit the candles, then waited for us in a deep chair shrouded with a translucent lavender curtain draping the chair from floor to ceiling, where I'd thumb tacked it up (an old curtain from Ikea).
When the kids came down for the surprise, she emerged in her splendid fortune teller get-up in the candle lit room and the kids were speechless. She had them sit in a circle. Out came a velvet pouch filled with little charms she'd put together: a small train, a candy heart, a foreign coin, and a bunch of others. She said that each item symbolized something: wealth, travel, love, beauty, adventure, friendship, truth, etc.
She had each child take a turn dumping the pouch out. then she "read" their fortune by interpreting which way the charms fell. For example, travel points to love, etc. She decided which charm was the most important of the reading and at the end of the whole thing, gave one to each kid. (So you have to make sure there's enough if you want to give them out at the end.)
The kids were enthralled. You need a pretty creative, imaginative person to do this -- a friend or babysitter type -- as a kind of improv.
Then, after that, if anyone's scared or freaked out, what rokusan said.
This was pretty much the best party game we'd ever done. Hope they have fun!
posted by keener_sounds at 9:32 AM on October 22, 2009 [4 favorites]
I think the classic way to give people good fortunes is to have knowledge they don't know you have.
If you can create a situation where the kids are talking about things in their lives, and then have the to-be fortune teller listen, they can usually glean information that will make a more convincing fortune.
posted by ejfox at 10:14 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
If you can create a situation where the kids are talking about things in their lives, and then have the to-be fortune teller listen, they can usually glean information that will make a more convincing fortune.
posted by ejfox at 10:14 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]
Check out their facebook and myspace pages for info? Not in a creepy way!
posted by orme at 10:51 AM on October 22, 2009
posted by orme at 10:51 AM on October 22, 2009
Response by poster: You all are so awesome! Mom is watching this page with delight--so much creativity! Thanks and we'll continue watching.
posted by moonlitpines at 11:09 AM on October 22, 2009
posted by moonlitpines at 11:09 AM on October 22, 2009
depending on whether they like silly humour or not, you could do silly things like these, in a deep yet silly voice
"You will grow taller"
"Your nails will soon need cutting"
"Your Room will not tidy itself"
but do it with some portentious build up.
posted by marienbad at 11:41 AM on October 22, 2009
"You will grow taller"
"Your nails will soon need cutting"
"Your Room will not tidy itself"
but do it with some portentious build up.
posted by marienbad at 11:41 AM on October 22, 2009
In the fortune teller's best spooky voice:
"You will grow to grad school, and grow up to be very poor....ooooooooooooo!"
posted by elder18 at 11:55 AM on October 22, 2009
"You will grow to grad school, and grow up to be very poor....ooooooooooooo!"
posted by elder18 at 11:55 AM on October 22, 2009
"You will circle the block and find something that will bring you luck"
"You will soon meet a stranger. He will smile at you"
"When you feel lost, look at your feet. That is where you are"
"In a dark hidden place you will find an object that will remind you of something"
"Your phone will ring"
"Somebody you like thinks you're wonderful"
"There is a greasy cheeseburger in your future"
"When you are old enough to drive a car, you will"
posted by Acacia at 2:29 PM on October 22, 2009
"You will soon meet a stranger. He will smile at you"
"When you feel lost, look at your feet. That is where you are"
"In a dark hidden place you will find an object that will remind you of something"
"Your phone will ring"
"Somebody you like thinks you're wonderful"
"There is a greasy cheeseburger in your future"
"When you are old enough to drive a car, you will"
posted by Acacia at 2:29 PM on October 22, 2009
When I was a kid, a distant relative read my tea leaves and said "You will soon receive a letter in the mail."
Two days layer, she mailed me a letter.
posted by coondognd at 2:37 PM on October 22, 2009
Two days layer, she mailed me a letter.
posted by coondognd at 2:37 PM on October 22, 2009
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by cmiller at 8:38 AM on October 22, 2009