How to make a paper pinwheel
Paper Pinwheel: try all 9 steps in the 3D player. Turn and replay every move. Print the complete diagram sheet or save it as PDF.
Fold the traditional uncut, single-color pinwheel with four flat blades from one square.
- You need
- One square of paper. No glue or scissors for the flat model.
- Start
- Start white side up, with an edge at the top. The reverse color will show on the blades.
- Tips
- Bring both long edges exactly to the middle.
- Press each end guide firmly before opening it.
Your model is ready
Your flat windmill is ready. Ease the tips slightly away from the middle to see its four blades. Keep it as a flat decoration. The finished four-bladed windmill.
Step-by-step diagrams
- 1
Mark the middle
Fold the right edge to the left edge, press, and open.
- 2
Fold the left gate
Bring the left edge to the middle crease.
- 3
Fold the right gate
Bring the right edge in to meet it. Keep both gates closed.
- 4
Prepare the upper end
Fold the top edge down to the middle of the strip, press, and open that end again.
- 5
Prepare the lower end
Fold the bottom edge up to the middle of the strip, press, and open it again.
- 6
Spread the lower end
Draw the two corners inside the lower end sideways. Lower their shared rear panel along the end guide and press both pockets into one broad trapezoid. Keep the middle of the strip flat.
- 7
Spread the upper end
Draw the two corners inside the upper end sideways. Lower their shared rear panel along the end guide and press both pockets into one broad trapezoid. Keep the middle of the strip flat.
- 8
Raise the upper blade
Fold the upper right arm up along the diagonal that reaches the middle point.
- 9
Lower the opposite blade
Fold the lower left arm down along the matching diagonal. Four blades now point around the middle.
- ✓
Finish
Your flat windmill is ready. Ease the tips slightly away from the middle to see its four blades. Keep it as a flat decoration. The finished four-bladed windmill.
Fold next
Paper banger ↗
The traditional single-pocket paper popper: fold a long rectangle into a triangle that pops when snapped downward.
Fortune teller ↗
A fortune teller, or cootie catcher, is a paper choosing game worked by two thumbs and two forefingers. Two rounds of corner folds make the pockets; the last creases let them open in alternating directions.
Paper boat ↗
The traditional paper boat, folded from a rectangle through a newspaper hat and two pockets.
Propeller ↗
An Origami Tutor design for the paper propeller: a doubled strip with a weighted stem and two diagonally creased blades that catch the air and spin as it falls.