How Did an Exercise-Book Page Become a Little Fan?

When the weather grew warm, even a used page from an exercise book could become a toy. A child folded a narrow strip along one edge, turned the paper over and made another fold of the same width, repeating the movement from front to back until the whole sheet became a stack of pleats. Holding one end and opening the other produced a little fan. Some children joined two folded sheets or drew patterns across the paper.

The craft looked simple, but the folds had to remain reasonably even. A small error near the beginning accumulated until the far edge leaned noticeably. Folds that were too wide produced a fan that opened poorly; very narrow folds took patience. A child who already knew the method might demonstrate the first fold, then remind someone else to turn the paper each time. The comparison afterwards was not only about which fan moved the most air. Neat pleats and smooth opening and closing also mattered.

For some children in China during the 1970s and early 1980s, old exercise-book pages, advertising sheets and wrapping paper were easier to obtain than purpose-made craft supplies. The fan should not be treated merely as evidence of having “no toys”. Paper, hand movement, sequence and peer teaching already formed a complete activity. Practices varied between places, homes and schools. What remained memorable was the moment when patient repetition gave a flat sheet both structure and use.