Homemade Pencil Pinwheel Craft With Colorful Paper

This DIY pencil pinwheel craft is made with paper and makes such a fun project! Learn how to make a pinwheel with a pencil with this easy craft.

A fun homemade pinwheel craft

Color. Doesn’t it spice up your life? A world without color would be like a cupcake with no frosting. Just, plain. I am a fan of bright colors, so I chose a bunch of bold-colored AstroBrights papers for this fun pinwheel craft for the upcoming school year.

DIY pencil toppers with paper

Now, you can light up your back-to-school pencil collection with a brightly colored pinwheel! This is a simple, yet fun project for kids with a tad bit of adult supervision. MJ is 5 and he was able to construct his pinwheel almost entirely on his own. He’s going to love writing with these at school!

How to Make A Pencil Pinwheel

Materials needed for this paper pinwheel craft:
(makes 12 pinwheels)

12 Pencils with erasers on them
12 sheets of assorted, colorful AstroBrights papers (8.5 x 11 in)
12 thumb tacks

Here’s how to make a spinning paper pinwheel

Start by cutting 12 perfect squares out of your desired paper colors. Fold your paper in half width-wise (hamburger style), and slowly cut it in half on the fold line. For each side, you will fold one corner diagonally to form a perfect square. Cut away excess paper and set it aside.

Next, fold each corner diagonally, matching each opposite end and crease. You should do this twice and have an X shape in the middle of your square.

Cut your colored paper on each line

To form the pinwheel, you will have to cut each crease towards the middle of the square, stopping about 1/2 inch from the center. Do this on all 4 sides, be sure that you do not cut all the way through!

Grab every other corner (there should be 4) and fold them inward, one by one, overlapping them and holding them in place with your finger at the center of the pinwheel.

Add thumbtacks to your paper pinwheels

Now, it’s mom’s (or dad’s) turn. Push a thumb tack through the 4 overlapping corners to secure them in the center of the pinwheel.

Now you can grab a pencil and press the thumb tack on the pinwheel into the side of the eraser. MJ helped with this step by holding up the pencil while I handled the tack.

It’s time to show those paper pinwheel pencils off!

I pressed the thumb tacks in pretty tight so they don’t spin super well, but they look beautiful! Check all of them out…

Enjoy this fun paper windmill craft!

What do you think? Could you imagine how dull these might have looked with regular construction paper? Creativity is definitely possible with AstroBright paper. For home, school, or even the office, your project is sure to stand out.

I hope you and your kids enjoy making this pencil pinwheels craft, they were fun to make and came out quite bright!