How to Design a Windmill
A windmill craft is a popular craft item to make. From children to adults, many have found the wonder in watching the windmill blow in the wind. Designing a windmill craft project is very simple to do. After you have an idea of how you want your windmill to look, all you need is a few items and a couple of minutes before you see your design realized.
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Things You'll Need
- Paper (8-inch-by-10-inch size sheet)
- Markers
- Scissors
- Handle (straw, pencil)
- Connector (straight pin, paper fastener)
Instructions
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Choose a size. Decide on what size you want your windmill to be. The bigger the windmill, the lighter the paper has to be in order to be able to spin in the wind. When the paper is heavy, you will need an increased amount of wind for it to move.
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Choose your colors. Windmills usually consist of two or more different colors for an added effect when the windmill is spinning. You can choose to use one color, two shades of the same color and two contradicting colors for your design.
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Choose paper type. Some choose to cut their windmill pieces from different colors of construction paper. This will work for smaller windmills, but construction paper is rather heavy. For larger windmills, use regular copier paper or something with a lighter weight. Then color the sides, if the paper isn't already colored.
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Choose a handle and connector. Some people choose to just use a pencil and straight pen as the handle and connector for their windmill. The straight pin sticks through the middle of the windmill and connects the edges to the eraser of the pencil. You can also use a straw and a paper fastener. Find something sturdy to use as the handle and something strong enough to hold it together without restricting the movement of the windmill.
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Put it all together. Cut the sheet of paper in half. Draw an "X" across the paper, making sure the lines are straight from one corner to the next. Cut along the lines of the X, stopping about 1 1/2 inches (3 cm) from the center of each line. The paper is now split into four sections. Fold down the right corner of each section and hold it together in the middle. You should have a four-star windmill. Taking the connector, stick it through the middle of the windmill (making sure that it goes through the ends of each folded-down corner) and attach it to the handle. Add designs to each point of the four-star windmill.
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Tips & Warnings
You can map out a visual design before putting the windmill together. Some choose to add swirly colors, while others make the windmill look like some type of animal (a butterfly, bee, cheetah spots, zebra stripes).
