• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Bren Did
  • Green Cleaning
  • Bath & Body
  • Easy Crafts
  • Tasty Recipes
  • Free Printables
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Green Cleaning
  • Bath & Body
  • Recipes
  • Crafts
  • Free Printables
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Crafts » Fortune Tellers » Random Acts of Kindness for Kids: Christmas Cootie Catcher

    Random Acts of Kindness for Kids: Christmas Cootie Catcher

    Published: Nov 10, 2018 · Modified: Apr 13, 2021 by Bren

    Kids love taking part in random acts of kindness activities during the holiday season.  This free printable Random Acts of Kindness for Kids Christmas Cootie Catcher suggest small acts of giving that kids can complete with little or no help from their parents. Print and fold this easy Christmas craft to encourage a spirit of generosity and giving in children!

    Encourage a spirit of generosity & giving in children with this giving activity for kids. This easy Christmas craft is a free printable Random Acts of Kindness for Kids Christmas Cootie Catcher. Learn how to fold a cootie catcher / paper fortune teller.

    This post contains affiliate links. They don’t cost you a thing, but help us bring you creative projects. Read more at Policies & Disclosures.

    A Time of Giving… or Too Many Wants?

    The Christmas season is meant to be a time of giving but the mass commercialization of the holiday can make kindness take a backseat to wants. This is especially true for young children who are easily swayed by ads and store displays.

    My generally well behaved children can turn into greedy little creatures when faced with a pile of holiday catalogs! My husband affectionately calls them “Me First and the Gimme Gimmes” when they trade their normally lovable dispositions for ones that are whiny or demanding.

    I’m sorry to say that this gimme-gimme behavior is often amplified during the Christmas season.

    Does any of this sound familiar to you?

    Giving is Important for Kids

    Practicing giving and kindness can help your children focus on the blessing in life… instead of gift lists.

    We love to give as a family is through “Random Acts of Kindness” or “Random Acts of Christmas Kindness.”  Have you heard of these fun activities? They are little acts of giving such as buying coffee for a stranger or handing out candy canes to an entire parking lot.

    While I love these fun Random Acts of Kindness activities, they generally require ME (the mom) to spend money or make most of in the sacrifice. Most of the activities ask for very little sacrifice from my children.

    I wanted my kids to participate in activities that require child-sized sacrifices and giving on their level.

    Encourage a spirit of generosity & giving in children with this giving activity for kids. This easy Christmas craft is a free printable Random Acts of Kindness for Kids Christmas Cootie Catcher. Learn how to fold a cootie catcher / paper fortune teller.

    Free Printable Cootie Catcher for Christmas

    This easy Christmas craft for kids features fun holiday designs and 16 kindness challenges that encourage kids to make giving a habit for life.

    • These small acts of giving are educator-approved! Educating Today suggests that parents should look for opportunities to serve others and teach kids how to give by giving.

    I made a list of Random Acts of Kindness for Kids that can be accomplished by children with no help (or very little help) from adults.

    Some examples from the Christmas Kindness Cootie Catchers:

    • Help someone do a job or chore.
    • Call a relative or friend just to say hello.
    • Give your spot in line to someone else.
    • Pick up litter.

    To make the activity even more interesting for kids I turned the list into a cootie catcher. These simple paper crafts are fun to fold and popular with elementary school students.

    Click HERE to get the Christmas Kindness Cootie Catcher.

    Tip: I print my fortune tellers on matte photo paper , it is thicker than copy paper and prints with extra bright colors. This makes a sturdy paper cootie catcher that can stand up to little hands!

    Encourage a spirit of generosity & giving in children with this giving activity for kids. This easy Christmas craft is a free printable Random Acts of Kindness for Kids Christmas Cootie Catcher. Learn how to fold a cootie catcher / paper fortune teller.

    Black and White Version for Coloring

    This project is extremely popular with teachers who don’t always have access (or the budget) for color copies. I’ve made a black and white version for kids to color and use.

    Grab the black and white version and the folding instructions HERE.

    Encourage a spirit of generosity & giving in children with this giving activity for kids. This easy Christmas craft is a free printable Random Acts of Kindness for Kids Christmas Cootie Catcher. Learn how to fold a cootie catcher / paper fortune teller.

    Random Acts of Kindness

    We use our fortune tellers at the dinner table, this gives us time to discuss the activity with our kids and brainstorm ideas. You could also select an item at breakfast so kids have all day to accomplish their kindness task.

    Cross off or initial each activity as your children complete a challenge. This makes the game even more fun as kids have to “hunt” for undone activities on the fortune teller → I promise, kids want to pick a task from these cootie catchers over and over again!

    More Free Fortune Tellers

    I’ve designed lots of fun holiday cootie catchers for kids. Check out these fun versions:

    • Valentine’s Day Joke Tellers are a great non-candy classroom treat or lunchbox surprise.
    valentine joke teller in hands
    • Father’s  Day Joke Tellers make a perfect gift for Dad.
    FB Free printable Father's Day Joke Teller
    • Halloween Joke Tellers are full of silly jokes perfect for classroom parties or non-candy Halloween treats.
    Halloween Joke Tellers for Kids - Make easy Halloween cootie catchers with your kids for a delightful Halloween treat that focuses on fun not sugar or candy. Free printable Halloween craft for kids. Halloween fortune Tellers. Healthy Halloween treat for kids.
    • Saint Patrick’s Day Joke Tellers are a great non-candy classroom treat or lunchbox surprise.
    A joke teller is a great St. Patrick’s Day treat for kids. The free printable project (with easy folding instructions) takes less than 5 minutes to complete. The joke teller (sometimes called a cootie catcher or fortune teller) contains 8 fun St. Patrick’s Day jokes for kids and fun Saint Patrick’s Day designs. It’s the perfect non-candy treat for all ages.

    Like my free printable joke teller and other paper crafts? Sign up for my free newsletter below and never miss a thing!

    BrenDId
    « 13 Beautiful DIY Lanterns You’ll Want to Make By Recycling 
    Free Printable Thanksgiving Food Illustrations from Your Favorite Friends Episodes »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Theresa

      December 13, 2021 at 11:38 am

      Thanks so much for this amazing activity! It is perfect for my Park and Rec After school program!

      Reply
    2. Jennifer

      December 21, 2017 at 8:02 am

      Your printable activities look amazing. Thank you for sharing them. Is this something that could be used in a Sunday School class? I can see that you have printed on the bottom “for personal use only”?

      Reply
      • Bren

        December 21, 2017 at 2:10 pm

        Yes, you can use them in a class activity. “For personal use only” means you cannot sell them, use them for profit, or claim they are your own creation. Hope your class enjoys the cootie catchers!

        Reply
    3. Lorrie

      September 20, 2017 at 2:55 pm

      Why is only the left half of the Christmas Cootie Catcher printing? How can I get the entire page to print^

      Reply
      • Bren

        September 25, 2017 at 4:38 pm

        Make sure to download it to your computer (don’t print from the browser window). You may also have to give it time to load on your computer before printing. Good luck!

        Reply
    4. Amber

      December 26, 2016 at 2:34 pm

      Your printables are awesome! Thank you for sharing your creativity! God bless :).

      Reply
      • Bren

        December 26, 2016 at 8:13 pm

        Thanks, Amber!

        Reply
    5. Michelle

      December 12, 2016 at 12:18 pm

      I would love to use this in our class party, but with the budget I can’t make colored copies. Would you be able to do a black and white one? And I’ll just have the kids color it.

      Reply
      • Bren

        December 12, 2016 at 9:56 pm

        Michelle, I had to make a new black and white version for you. You can find it in the free printables library. Enjoy!

        Reply
        • Michelle

          December 14, 2016 at 6:58 pm

          The black and white one is PERFECT!! Thank you!!!

          Reply
    6. Tribulations d'Une Citadine

      December 14, 2015 at 2:15 am

      Hi! I’m a french activity leader and I wanted to thanks you for this activity, so happy to have discovered it!
      I think it’s a great way to make this world better educating children to kindness and respect!
      Have a great day and thanks again! 🙂

      Reply
      • Bren

        December 14, 2015 at 8:39 am

        Thank you for stopping by with your lovely comment! I am flattered!

        Reply
    7. MiCa

      December 08, 2015 at 1:33 pm

      Thank you so much for creating and sharing these! I use these in our religious education classes – the kids love them!

      Reply
      • Bren

        December 08, 2015 at 2:28 pm

        I am so glad you like the paper craft and stopped by! Thank you!

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Bren! I believe you deserve a clean, comfortable home without exposing your family or the planet to harmful ingredients.

    Learn more →

    Popular Posts

    • This Natural All-Purpose Cleanser is a workhorse! It is a bathtub and sink cleaner, a toilet cleaner, a glass top stove cleaner, an oven cleaner, a cutting board cleaner, a dishwasher detergent, a pot & pan cleaner, a laundry stain treater, a carpet stain remover, a tile and grout scrub and more! Plus it is an all-natural, green cleaner that is so gentle you can use it to exfoliate! Get the easy, 2-ingredient recipe on BrenDid.com!
      Natural All Purpose Cleanser
    • Dirty oven rack next to clean oven rack
      How to Clean Oven Racks Naturally
    • Two easy recipes for homemade dish detergent for hand washing make enough washing up liquid for 16 sinks of dishes for around $2.75 and rate an A on the Environmental Working Group (EWG) Healthy Cleaning scale. Learn two simple ways to make liquid dish detergent and get my recommendations for what you should buy to hand wash dishes.
      Non-Toxic Homemade Dish Detergent for Hand Washing
    • Scented Vinegar for Cleaning with labels
      How to Make Scented Vinegar for Cleaning

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • About Bren Did
    • Policies & Disclosures

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up for Email

    Contact

    • Contact

    All content copyright 2023, Bren Fey, Bren Did ∙ Information should be used at your own discretion ∙ Use of content without permission is prohibited