You probably already know that I love kids paper crafts. I love transforming a sheet a paper into something special and for today’s project we are going to tackle a classic: Pinwheels.
If you love paper toys, check out our Play Pack:
This project is part of the Kids Crafts 101 Series, 14 easy children’s crafts made with everyday materials.
Pinwheels are a great springtime project, perfect for a breezy spring day. And because I love exploring the way designs look when spinning I turned ours into an Op-Art drawing exercise. I want you to explore how different designs look when the pinwheel spins!
This post contains affiliate links to products I love and recommend to my readers.
Kids Paper Crafts: Op-Art Pinwheels
Materials
DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE HERE
- Pinwheel Template
- Cardstock- this is the type I recommend
- Markers- we used our trusty collection of these
- Scissors
- Hole punch
- Bamboo Skewers
- Wood Beads-These are my favorite brand, colorful and inexpensive
- Milkshake Straws
- Hot glue
Instructions
- Step One Print and cut out the template. Cut along the solid lines making sure to stop short of the center as shown.
- Step Two Decorate the triangular areas labeled “A” as defined by dashed lines and shown on the pattern guide
- Step Three Turn over and decorate the areas shown as “B on the pattern guide.
- Step Four Punch a hole though the black “B” circles and one through the center of the pinwheel.
- Step Five Trim your skewer to be 2 1/2” long. Pierce the straw about 3/4” from the top, leaving about ¼” visible on the backside of the straw.
- Step Six Place a wood bead on the skewer.
- Step Seven Thread the pinwheel onto the skewer through the center hole with sides “A” facing up. Gently fold and thread each “B” flap through the skewer.
- Step Eight Thread a bead onto the end of the skewer and secure in place with hot glue. The bead should be at the end of the skewer leaving plenty of room for the pinwheel to move.
Tips
- Use milkshake straws. Regular straws are too flimsy.
- Make sure there is platy of room for the pinwheel to rotate. You don’t want to bunch up the pinwheel or it will get caught on the straws as it tries to rotate.
- Experiment with the designs and colors. When these rotate the designs look circular.
More
If you enjoyed this simple craft for kids then I have 13 more projects for you in this series but some of my favorite bloggers!
Have you seen our PAPER TOYS PLAY PACK?
It includes 7 paper toys you can download, print, and play with today!
Fill your child’s life with more art, design, and science:
Subscribe to our free newsletter and check out our FB page where I share tons more creative ideas and resources from around the web.
Spread creative ideas like wildfire: Pin this!
it is very very nice
Thanks!
Totally LOVE this website. Its amazing!
Yay!
Love this website it is awesome
Thank you!
This looks like such a fun art project! Kids make the best art. I’d love to see what a professional artist could do with this concept.
great tip for the kids to have fun, I played a lot with pinwheel wind as a child, was very cool 🙂
Thank yoU!