Project Instructions: Simple Springtime Pinwheel

Monday, 9 April 2012

Project Instructions: Simple Springtime Pinwheel

From this month’s OC Family Craft Time page— written instructions, photos and places to shop for supplies!

Simple Springtime Pinwheels
These pinwheels are very easy (& pretty speedy) to create with your kids. This project does require some adult supervision and a little help with the sharp stuff! Pinwheels are festive and fun and can also be used as a cute party project or decoration.

Supplies you will need:

• 5/16″ wooden dowel—most of these come 36″ in length. I purchased mine at Ganahl Lumber on Bristol Street. One of the employees was kind enough to trim the dowels into three equal portions. You can also purchase these at Michael’s—though the trimming down you’ll have to do on your own. A hacksaw if you’re low on power tools or a workspace; a jigsaw if you’re lucky enough to have a work bench.

• Glue stick (or any type of glue). I like using the glue stick for this project because it’s tackier than regular Elmer’s glue. The superior tackiness makes the paper stick more quickly which means less time holding the points down with your finger!

• Flat-headed silver thumbtacks

• Small washers (also purchased at Ganahl Lumber)

• Colored pencils (or other coloring item of your choice— crayons, markers, paint, glue & glitter, etc)

• Scissors

• Paper—letter size (8.5 x 11″)

Color & cut
Trim 8.5 x 11 paper down to an 8.5-inch square. Divide the space into four squares and have your child fill each with different colors and patterns. You can alternate colors and patterns as shown above or do totally different colors and patterns in each square to add more interest. Once colored, cut in from each corner about 3.5 inches. You can measure this if you like, but I generally just eyeball it.

Glue
Using your glue stick, put some glue at the center of your paper. Starting at the point closest to you, bend the right side of the cut to the center and press into the glue at the center. Repeat this three times, adding more glue on top after you press each point down. Always using the side right of the cut to ensure the pinwheel can catch a breeze and spin properly.

THIS STEP SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY AN ADULT.
Sandwich
Once the glue has dried, press a silver flat-head thumbtack carefully through the center of your pinwheel and then slide a washer on to the end of the tack creating a little tack, pinwheel, washer sandwich.

THIS STEP SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY AN ADULT.
Pushpin
Carefully press this washer/paper/tack sandwich into the wooden dowel near the top, leaving a little room so that the pinwheel can spin freely. Once you’ve attached the pinwheel to the dowel, you can puff up each of the billow-y portions of the pinwheel to get it to catch a bit more air to spin a little more.