How to Make a Pinwheel for a Children's Craft

Pinwheels have entertained children for generations.

Making a pinwheels is simple and requires very few materials to create a toy your children can keep and enjoy. And if you have the time and inclination, you can extend the craft by letting kids decorate their pinwheels in colorful paper or by using rubber stamps on the petals. Pinwheels are also easy to adapt into thematic crafts by decorating them with patterns that fit a certain topic or holiday.

Difficulty:

Moderate

Instructions

Things You'll Need

• Paper (square)
• Scissors
• Sharpened pencil
• Unsharpened pencil with eraser
• Thumbtack

1. Fold the paper in half, corner to corner, creating a diagonal crease. Fold along the other diagonal to divide the paper into four triangles.

2. Cut along the folds from each corner halfway to the center.

3. Poke a small hole in the left corner of each triangle using the tip of the sharp pencil, then poke a small hole in the center of the square.

4. Bring the small holes in the corners together into the center without creasing the bends into folds.

5. Align the holes and stick the thumbtack through them, then into the eraser of the unsharpened pencil to secure it.

Tips & Warnings

• This craft is not appropriate for young children, since it uses a thumbtack.

References

• Paper Source: Paper Pinwheels
• Enchanted Learning: Patriotic Pinwheel
• JanBrett.com: Make Your Own Pinwheel