Maker Monday: Kids can make these beautiful pinwheels

With this easy Maker Monday craft project, kids can make old-fashioned pinwheels. They’re fun to create and require little in the way of expense. Everything you need can be found at the dollar store or might already be in your home.

But though this project is simple, it’s also wonderfully decorative. Pinwheels can add a touch of whimsy to potted plants indoors and add a burst of whirling color to your garden.

You’ll find all the details below. (A note to kid makers: Please work with a parent or caregiver on this Maker Monday project and always be very careful when using tools of any kind.)

Maker Monday materials you’ll need:

• paper (the more colorful, the better!)
• a pencil
• scissors
• tape
• push pins

Maker Monday instructions:

Step 1: Cut a sheet of paper into a 6-inch-by-6-inch square. Then fold one corner across, so that it meets the opposite corner to form a triangle. Press down to crease, then open the paper and bring together the other two corners in the same way and crease again. Your creases now make an “x” on the paper.

Step 2: Cut along each of the creases from each corner in toward the center, stopping about an inch and a half before you reach the center.

Step 3: Take each corner of the paper, bending it toward the center, one at a time. Tape to hold each corner in place in the center as you go (see below).

Step 4: Press a push pin through the center. Secure the point of the push pin to the side of a pencil eraser.

You did it!

Kids can decorate their homes and yards with these cool pinwheels. They can also personalize their pinwheels with markers and crayons before cutting the paper. More rustic pinwheels can be made using small branches in place of the pencils, with the paper colored in floral or leaf designs.

A jar of pebbles and rocks can make a fun holder for a finishing touch.