Promise & Law Finger Do-Dah

This simple exercise in paper folding is an age-old favourite. I have made up a template that includes Promise and Law text, but the Do-Dah, or Chatterbox as it is sometimes called, can be made simply from a square of paper and marked up any way you like.

To 'play the game', place the index finger and thumb of each hand inside the four 'cavities', holding the fingers and thumbs together so that the points of the four Do-Dah 'pyramids' are all touching, and, in the case of the model illustrated, only the [names of the] colours are showing. The Cub holding the Do-Dah then asks another Cub to choose a colour from those written on the outer faces of the Do-Dah.

The first Cub then opens and closes the Do-Dah by alternately moving the two fingers away from the two thumbs, closing them again, then moving the right and left hand fingers away from each other, then moving them back again, spelling out one letter of the name of the chosen colour with each move. The first move will just open up the Do-Dah to expose, in the present case, four numbers (1,2,5 & 6 or 3, 4, 7 & 8). For the second and subsequent moves, the Do-Dah is closed then opened in the other direction, concealing the first set of four numbers and exposing the other four. This process continues until the chosen colour has been spelled out completely. On the last move, the Do-Dah is left open, exposing four numbers. The second Cub chooses one of these numbers, and the fist Cub opens the associated flap, revealing the message underneath.

The labels on the outside of the Do-Dah can be anything that initiates some form of counting or spelling process. Traditionally, they were the names of colours, but they could be words from the Promise and Law.

The labels on the inside can be anything that identifies which flap to open. It can be as simple as a number, as in the present case, or it could be a question, the answer to which will result in the opening of a particular flap and the reading of the message written underneath.

If you search the Net for "Origami Chatterbox", you will find a number of images and video clips illustrating different uses of this fun little 'toy' that many of us used to make and play with back in our primary school years.