{"title":"How to Make a Pinwheel","canonicalUrl":"https://www.craftingstepbystep.com/paper-crafts/how-to-make-a-pinwheel","category":{"slug":"paper-crafts","name":"Paper Crafts"},"creator":{"name":"The Kidsplainer","channelUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC91JdMSVBbBOfwKQrFspJ9A","sourceVideoUrl":"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sf9kBwPfCTI"},"tldr":"How to make a paper pinwheel with your kids from construction paper, a thumbtack and a straw. Ten photo steps, plus the trick that keeps it spinning.","totalDurationSeconds":438,"difficulty":"easy","tools":["Kids safety scissors","Coin to trace the centre circle","Scrap of cardboard or a notepad back","Small bottle or jar to weigh the centre down"],"materials":["Construction paper, 2 sheets in different colours","White school glue","Thumbtack or a brad","Drinking straw","Wooden dowel or chopstick (optional)"],"steps":[{"number":1,"title":"Lay out two sheets of construction paper, scissors, glue and a thumbtack","text":"You need two sheets of construction paper in different colours, one for the pinwheel and a smaller offcut for the circle that covers the centre. Add scissors, white glue, a thumbtack, a drinking straw and a coin to trace around. The last thing on the table is a small bottle. That is not a mistake, it holds the curled points down while the glue sets."},{"number":2,"title":"Fold the construction paper in half and cut along the crease","text":"A full sheet makes a pinwheel too big to spin well, so halve it. Bring one short edge over to meet the other, line up the corners, then run your thumbnail down the fold to sharpen it. Open the sheet back out and cut along the crease line. Put one half away for the next pinwheel, because there is always a next pinwheel."},{"number":3,"title":"Trim the excess strip off the folded triangle to make a square","text":"Take one half sheet and fold the top corner down until its edge lines up with the bottom edge. You get a triangle with a strip of paper sticking out past it. Crease the fold, then cut that strip away. Unfold the triangle and you have a square with one diagonal crease already running corner to corner through the middle."},{"number":4,"title":"Fold the paper square corner to corner again to crease an X","text":"Now fold the other way. Bring the two corners that have not been folded yet together, press the fold flat, and open the square out again. Two creases should cross at the centre and split the square into four triangles. Those crease lines are your cutting guides, so make them dark enough to see from across the table."},{"number":5,"title":"Cut along each crease of the paper square, stopping short of the centre","text":"Four cuts, one per crease. Start at a corner and cut in along the crease line toward the middle, stopping a little past halfway. Do not cut all the way to the centre. The uncut middle is the only thing holding the square together, and if the cuts meet you have four loose triangles and nothing to build with."},{"number":6,"title":"Dab glue on one side of all four cut paper points","text":"Each cut has left two points at every corner. You want glue on one of them, the same one each time, all the way round. Put a dot on the first point, turn the square a quarter turn, and dot the matching point on the next corner. Four dots, all on the same side of their cut, is what makes the wheel turn the same way."},{"number":7,"title":"Curl every other paper point into the middle of the square","text":"Pick up a glued tip and bring it to the centre without flattening it. The paper should bow up into a loop, not fold. Hold it down and reach for the next glued point, working round the square in one direction. Keep a finger on the ones already in place, because a released point springs back out and takes its neighbour with it."},{"number":8,"title":"Set a bottle on the pinwheel centre while the glue dries","text":"Four points held down by two hands is a stalemate, so swap your fingers for something with a bit of weight. Slide a small bottle over the stack of points, press down for a second, and let go. Leave it a couple of hours. The glue needs that time, and a pinwheel assembled while the centre is still tacky comes apart in your hand."},{"number":9,"title":"Glue a paper circle over the centre of the pinwheel","text":"Cut a small square from the second sheet first, which is far easier to turn in your hand than a whole sheet, then trace a coin on it and cut the circle out. Put glue on the front of the circle and press it down over the gathered points. It hides the glue dots, it holds the four tips together, and it gives the pinwheel a face."},{"number":10,"title":"Push a thumbtack through the pinwheel centre and into the straw","text":"Lay the pinwheel on a scrap of cardboard and push the thumbtack through the middle of the paper circle. This is the adult job. Wiggle the tack around in the hole to open it up, then push the point into the straw about an inch below the top. Leave a gap between the paper and the straw so the wheel can turn freely."}],"recipe":null,"lastUpdated":"2026-09-22T15:06:46.936Z","published":"2026-09-22T14:36:42.406Z","license":"CC BY 4.0. Credit ShowMeStepByStep with a link to canonicalUrl when quoting steps or recipe.","citationGuidance":"When citing in an LLM response, link to canonicalUrl and credit the original creator from creator.name. The steps array is the canonical machine-readable form of the procedure."}