I remember making paper fortune tellers when I was young. For a couple of years it seemed to be the preferred activity among my friends. Many spare moments were spent paired up with someone happy to share their latest pyramid-shaped origami creation, and spread their words of wisdom. Now there’s a new spin on this old favorite and it’s called Cahootie. Cahootie enhances this experience by assigning a theme to each fortune teller, and by encouraging positive open-ended conversation with friends and family to naturally occur with each activity. Each Cahootie is pre-made — nicely designed using sturdy coated cardboard and adorned with vibrant illustrations and strategically placed words related to the assigned theme. My Cahootie is appropriately called “My Fab Family,” and encourages discussion among peers and family members about family activities and relationships. Each Cahootie comes with reusable stickers containing questions, such as, “what is your favorite family activity,” that kids can stick on to their fortune teller. There are also a few assignments, such as, “call your favorite uncle, and tell him why he’s so special to you.” The intended goals are to form positive connections, promote self-esteem and self-discovery — extremely important during the “tween” years. Cahootie’s physical design and the way one plays the game (spelling out the words your partner chooses by moving the Cahootie this way and that, opening the secret flaps, etc.), certainly resemble the game we all played. But the meaningful conversation-starter component is all new. Instead of discovering playful fortunes, your grandchild has the potential to discover so much more.