Fortune-telling, kindergarten-style

*This is Kindra. She taught in Kyiv last spring. Today she shares one of her favorite memories of teaching (and a genius idea!). Thanks Kindra!*

Our last day of teaching was fast-approaching. All of the volunteers in my group wanted to plan a day that the kids would never forget! We brainstormed several different ideas, but they all seemed to back-fire.


We could do a big game day—but that might get out of hand with that many kids. We could have a giant dance party—that could get old for some kids. Finally we came up with the brilliant conclusion that we could do a mini carnival and have different booths that the children travel around to. We had a stand with a ring toss game, face painting, prizes, etc. I decided that for my “booth” I wanted to be a gypsy and do fortune telling.

I wasn’t sure if the kids would understand the concept of “palm-reading” or even like it, but it ended up being the hit of the carnival. I tied a scarf around my head, made a paper cootie catcher, displayed UNO cards, found a “crystal” ball, and used hand sanitizer as an essential oil. As the child sat down I would read the lines on their hand and rub in the hand sanitizer. Then I would have them pick an Uno card out of my hand and that number on the card would be how many kids they would have when they grew up. Then I would let them pick a number and color on the cootie catcher to discover their fate. If I knew something specifically about the child (if they liked to dance or play basketball) I would look into my crystal ball and tell them they would grow up to be a famous ballet dancer or ballplayer, etc.

Kids were lining up like crazy to get their fortunes read! They would go around the room and tell all the other kids about their future in English. I have never seen some of them speak so much English. If the child getting their fortune didn't understand what I said, one of the other kids would help translate for me. It was an amazing experience for me to see how far they’d come since they started. Some kids that were really shy with their English were becoming more and more conversational! It was a lot of fun to get into my gypsy character and help make their day a little brighter.