Fun Crafts With Kids: Making A Pencil Pinwheel in Under 10 Minutes

Making Pencil Pinwheel is a great way to involve the kids in crafting with you. They are super easy to make and will keep the kids entertained. With the winter weather being in full swing these are a great indoor project. These Pencil Pinwheels can be made any time of year and can be added to other craft projects. 

Benefits Of Crafting With Kids 

Developing Motor Skills

Most arts and crafts involve the use of our hands and fingers which is great for helping children develop their fine motor skills. This also helps improve muscle strength and control of the hands and fingers.

Hand Eye Coordination

Just like motor skills arts and crafts involve the use of our hands and eyes. Hand-eye coordination is very beneficial to small children the more they practice the better they get, it will benefit them in multiple ways as they grow. 

Self Expression

Just like with us adults art and crafting are a form of self-expression, it is always nice to be able to see the skill sets and what everyone has to offer when it comes down to arts and crafts, kids will love the fact they can choose exactly how they want a project craft to go. 

More Socilization 

When picking up a new craft project with your child it gives you the time to really sit down and talk. This helps both your relationship grow as well as help your children socialize better with others in the future. Building good social skills at a young age is very important. 

Having Fun

Sometimes whether you are a full-time parent or a babysitter or nanny, raising kids is a tough job! Sometimes you really need to sit back and just have some fun, let the kids be creative and you will remember the laughs forever. 

Glueless And Messless Craft

Now, this one only applies to this specific craft project! But this is a mess-free hassle-free craft to do with the kids, no glue or sparkle here! So you will have more time to bond with your child and not have to worry about cleaning up a huge mess in the process. 

Finding things to do with kids can sometimes be a big task, sometimes you feel like you have done it all! But that is the best part about arts and crafts and projects with the kids, there are so many different things you can do these pencil pinwheels to start!  

Materials Needed For A Pencil Pinwheel

My favorite part about this quick and fun craft idea is that you likely have all of the materials you will need at home, so no need to have to run out to the store and buy multiple things to make these homemade paper pinwheels. 

– Wooden Pencils With Erasers

– Heavy Cardstock Paper or Construction Paper 

– Push Pin

– Scissors

– Ruler

What Kind Of Paper Works Best?

For my Pencil Pinwheel, I am using scrapbooking cardstock paper, but I believe any type of heavier paper would do the trick. You want the paper to have a little bit of weight to it so that it doe not easily rip when you are working with it or trying to make it spin. If you are looking for other papers check out your local craft store and in the scrapbook and stationery sections they will have tons of different types and styles of paper. Some come in single sheets while others you can buy in packs. You can mix and match styles and colors and just have fun with them! 

How To Make A Pencil Pinwheel Step By Step

First thing is to cut out a 5 by 5-inch square with your scissors. Using your ruler and your cardstock paper measure out a 5 by 5-inch square and cut it out and place it to the side.

Next, cut a diagonal line from each corner just shy of the middle of the paper, repeat this step for all four corners of your square. Just make sure not to cut through the middle or this pinwheel will not function. 

I had this adorable macaroon paper that I have been saving and thought would be perfect, the only thing is the backside was plain white. So before I did the next step I just make sure the design you want is face-up, you will have the white or blank part on the blades but I still think it looks very cute.

Once you have your four diagonal lines, lay the paper square on a flat surface, fold gently the four corners of the to the center of the paper square. Try and line it up square the best you can for a more clean look.  Do not flatten the folds, just bring the four corners of your cuts to the center of the paper square and hold them in place using your index finger. 

Next, take your push pin and with a small pair of needle nose plyers end the tip upwards slightly at about a 45-degree angle so that it stays in place, then,  gently push it through the paper that way it is catching all four of your folded, bent over corners and the center of your paper square that we left un-cut.

The easiest way to do this is one “blade” at a time push the pin through just so it catches the tip then move to the next “blade” tip once you have the push pin through all four moves to the next step in the process. 

Then, take your wooden pencil that has the eraser on the top and gently press the pushpin into the eraser top. Make sure you do not push the pin in too much, make sure it is loose so that your pinwheel has room to spin. 

There you have is a super fun project for kids. What I love most about with is it is an easy mess-free craft you can enjoy with your kids whenever you are looking for fun ideas that are arts and crafts related. 

Using Pencil Pinwheels In Other Crafts

These super fun and easy-to-make pinwheels can be used in multiple other craft ideas, decor, or party favors! I always love a project that I can use in multiple ways, below I will explain a few different ideas you can use these adorable pencil pinwheels! 

Bridal and Baby Showers

How cute would it be to add these adorable paper pinwheels to floral centerpieces for bridal and baby showers? Since they are so easy to make and are easy on the debit card you can add these as little personal touches, even buying cute or pretty cardstock that can match the other decor or theme of your shower! 

Kids Birthday Party Decor and Favors

Like I listed above you could add these to your child’s birthday party décor either as centerpieces or adding to florals around the party. You could even make these as party favors for your guests with matching paper to the theme of your child’s birthday party. 

Fourth of July 

These paper pinwheels would be adorable sitting in glass mason jars for your next fourth of July get-together, not only are they adorable centerpieces and can be made to look very festive parents will love the fact they can pick them up and entertain the kids for a bit! 

Cake Toppers

These would also be the most perfect cake toppers for any celebration! I would just suggest you clean the pencils well and let them dry and wrap the part you will be pushing into the cake with some cling film or put the pencil inside of a paper staw. Everyone will be shocked and think you spent hours making these adorable pencil pinwheels. 

Gifts For Teachers

You can make a bunch of these pencil pinwheels to give to your children’s teachers as small tokens of gratitude. You could make them into a type of bouquet that the teacher can place on his or her desk to cherish! 

Flowerless Bouquet

Allergies? Looking for something unique? Turn these paper pinwheels into a beautiful bouquet! Cut out all different sized squares and use different colored paper to make a mock-bouquet and send as a gift to someone special. It will defiantly be a beautiful thoughtful gift! 

There are tons of super fun ideas to use these adorable pinwheels in other crafts! Let us know how you incorporate them into different ideas! 

Easy, Fun, Mess Free Pencil Pinwheel

These easy, fun, and mess-free pencil pinwheels can be used in so many different ways! From being a fun afternoon art and craft project for kids to make them for décor for parties and even party favors! There are so many different styles of paper that you can use so that your pinwheels can match any occasion and you will never make the same pinwheel twice! Do not forget to share your amazing ideas with us!