How to Make a Paper Pinwheel That Spins in the Wind

The paper pinwheel sits in an odd spot in the folding world: it needs scissors, which technically rules it out of traditional origami, yet it shows up in practically every paper-craft book for kids. It also teaches one very useful lesson, because it only works when it is assembled loosely.

A pinwheel that will not spin is almost never badly folded. It is pinned too tight.

What You Need

• Firm square paper, colored on both sides, since both faces show as it turns. Between 90 and 120 gsm is ideal.
• Scissors.
• A straight pin with a head, or a pushpin.
• A wooden skewer, a stiff straw, or a pencil.
• Optional: a small bead or a piece of eraser.

Paper colored on one side only will work, but the spinning pinwheel shows the white back and loses much of the effect.

Step by Step

1. Crease the diagonals. Fold the square corner to corner both ways and unfold. Where the creases cross is the center.
2. Cut along the diagonals. With scissors, cut along each diagonal crease, starting at the corner and heading for the center. Stop about 3/4 inch (2 cm) from the center. On an 8-inch (20 cm) square, that uncut area is what holds the piece together.
3. Pick your points. Each cut corner is now two points. You will always use the same one of each pair: for example, the left-hand point of every corner, going clockwise.
4. Bring the first point to the center. Bend it inward without creasing. It should curve, not fold. Hold it down with your thumb over the center.
5. Repeat with the other three, always the matching point of each corner, overlapping them at the center. All four end up under your thumb.
6. Push the pin through all four points and the center of the paper in one go.
7. Leave some slack. Pull the pin head about 1/16 inch (1 to 2 mm) away from the paper before you fix it to the stick. That gap is what lets the wheel turn.
8. Attach the handle. Push the pin into the stick near its tip. If the pin pokes out the other side, cover the point with the eraser or a small cork.

Why Yours Will Not Spin

How to Make It Spin More Easily

Two adjustments solve nearly everything:

A bead on the axle. Thread a small bead onto the pin, between the paper and the stick. It acts as a makeshift bearing and cuts the friction considerably.

Tape at the center. A small square of tape stuck to the center, on both sides, before you make the hole keeps the hole from widening with use. It is what makes a pinwheel last weeks instead of days.

Sizes and Proportions

The proportion is constant: the uncut stretch should be about one tenth of the square’s side. Less than that and the piece tears; more and the blades will not overlap at the center.

As Decoration

Pinwheels in a row, stuck into planters or tied to bamboo stakes, work well at outdoor parties, especially alongside bunting or paper garlands at a summer cookout. Indoors they will not spin, but they still read as a bright geometric shape.

For a set, three sizes in two or three colors give more visual rhythm than a dozen identical ones. The same composition logic applies to an origami mobile.

About the Scissors

This is one of the few models on this site that requires cutting. With children, one split that works: the adult makes the four cuts, the child does the bending and assembly. The cuts have to stop at the right spot, and that is exactly where the piece is lost when the scissors slip.

If you want an activity with no scissors at all, the paper fortune teller and the origami jumping frog give the same kind of payoff: paper toys that do something once they are finished.

Eight-Blade Pinwheel

The eight-blade version turns in less wind, because more surface is always exposed to the moving air.

1. Besides the diagonals, also crease the horizontal and vertical center lines.
2. Cut along all eight lines, always stopping 3/4 inch (2 cm) from the center.
3. Bring only alternating points to the center: every other one of the sixteen you now have.
4. Pin and attach as in the four-blade version.

It is twice the work and needs firmer paper, because the blades are narrower and crumple easily. In return, it can turn indoors on nothing more than a draft.

For the Garden or Porch

Ordinary paper lasts only a few days outdoors. For pinwheels that will stay outside:

• Laminated paper or clear contact paper. Apply the clear film to both sides of the square before cutting. It stands up to dew and light rain.
• A bamboo stake instead of a skewer, to handle stronger wind.
• Height above the plants, where the air moves more steadily.

Even treated, a paper pinwheel is a temporary piece: months, not years. That is part of the deal with this kind of decoration, and also why it suits a party so well. It takes little work, makes a big impression, and nobody expects it to last.