How to Make an Eight Blade Pinwheel

A pinwheel is a children's paper toy that consists of a paper wheel attached to a stick. The pinwheel spins when exposed to moving air. Create pinwheels by cutting triangular tabs into a paper square. Fold half of the triangles inward to the center of the square to create small wind tunnels. As the air moves through the folds of the paper, it causes the wheel to spin. Create paper pinwheels with four, six or eight blades.

Cut a piece of paper into a 6-inch or 8-inch square. Fold the paper in half by bring the left side of the square over to the right side. Unfold the paper. Fold the paper in half a second time by bringing the top edge of the square over to the bottom edge of the square. Unfold the paper.

Fold the paper in half diagonally by matching the square's top left corner with its bottom right corner. Unfold the paper. Fold the paper diagonally in half again by matching the top right corner to the bottom left corner. Unfold the paper. The square should be divided into 8 equal sections.

Cut along each of the folds with a pair of scissors. Cut only two-thirds of the way to the center point of the square along each fold. There should be eight triangular shaped pieces on the square.

Place the cut square on a flat work surface. Fold the tip of the right corner triangle to the center point on the square. Hold it in place by pushing down on it with a finger. Do not crease the fold in the triangle. Let it remain folded in a loose loop. Work your way counterclockwise around the square, folding down every other triangle in the same manner as the first.

Insert a push pin through the tips of the folded triangles at the center point of the square. Pick the pinwheel up from the work surface. Push the pointed end of the pin that is protruding out the back of the pinwheel into the side of a 1/4-inch diameter wooden dowel that is 10 inches long. Push the pin into the wooden dowel one inch from its top. Blow on the side of the pinwheel to ensure that it turns freely. Loosen the pin if the pinwheel does not spin easily.