How to Make Pencil Pinwheels

Pinwheels are fun toys that spin delightfully in a brisk breeze or when you hold them up and blow on them. You can make small pencil pinwheels as party activity or use the decorated pencils as rewards for schoolwork well done. Decorating the pinwheels can be done by any child over the age of three nearly without supervision. You will just need to step in when the scissors and push pins come out. Make these pinwheels together before a family trip to the park, or use them to decorate your own yard with dynamic, spinning wheels of color. Read on to learn how to make pencil pinwheels.

Things You'll Need

• Push pins
• Construction paper
• Scissors
• Colored markers
• Glitter glue
• Pencils with new erasers
• Craft glue
• Silly putty

Instructions

1. Decorate the construction paper with the colored markers. You can draw pictures or make pretty geometric designs. Remember that your picture will be cut and folded to make a pinwheel, though, so do not do anything too intricate.

2. Highlight your picture with glitter glue. This will make the pinwheel sparkle as it turns.

3. 

   Trace the pinwheel pattern onto the back of the construction paper. You can do this by placing the original pattern on top of the construction paper, then going over all the lines with a blunt pencil. Bear down hard so that there are indentions in the paper to guide your scissors.

4. Cut out the pattern and then cut along the dotted lines. Do not cut into the center circle, as this is what holds your pinwheel together.

5. 

   Fold each dot so that it overlaps the dot in the center circle. This will create the "fans" of your pinwheel.

6. Glue the points of the fan to the center of the circle. Use a single dot of glue and press the point in place until the glue has set.

7. Shove a push pin through the center of the circle and the top of the pencil eraser. This will hold the pinwheel in place and attach it to the top of the pencil. Allow a little room between the head of the pin and the eraser so that the pinwheel can spin.

8. Place a tiny ball of silly putty over the sharp end of the pin. This will protect your fingers while you are using the pencil. If you prefer, you can file off the point of the pin with a nail file.

Tips & Warnings

• If you like, simply print multiple copies of the pinwheel pattern and then decorate the printed pages instead of construction paper.

• You can use thumbtacks instead of push pins to hold the pinwheel in place. They are shorter and less likely to stick out the far end of the eraser, but they also inhibit spinning action.

Resources

• Pinwheel pattern