4th of July Craft: Red, White, and Blue Pinwheels

I didn't get the opportunity to post yesterday because we had extra kids in the classroom, so we just made the fireworks pictures. But today, we did something different since we had only a few kids. These are pinwheels. Of course, the picture is of a sample one I colored before we did them for the 4th of July, so the picture isn't red, white, and blue. But most of these crafts are interchangeable between holidays and across some themes. Or you can simply do them for any day.

Here's the finished product, colored with various different crayon colors.

What You'll Need:

• Piece of normal white printer paper, cut into a perfect square. The size of the square would depend on what you'll be using for the stick, but it'll need to be at least 6 in. x 6 in.
• Single hole punch 
• Thick craft stick, pencil, or straw for stick on pinwheel
• Tack
• Hammer (if using craft stick or pencil)
• Brad (if using craft stick or straw)
• Crayons, markers, stickers, etc. to decorate
• Scissors

By the way, these are brads, in case you didn't know.

How to Make It:

1. If you haven't already, cut the square out of the normal printer paper, approximately 6 in. x 6 in. Cut into each corner of the square about 2/3 of the way into the center. Punch a hole on the left side of each cut in the corners.
2. Have the child color and add stickers (flat ones, not foam ones. Otherwise, they'll come off), and avoid gluing anything on that could fall off in wind.
3. After it's colored and done, pull the corners back and line all of the holes up behind the center of the square so that it forms the pinwheel shape (don't actually fold it, leave the edges rounded so you have cups as the edges). If you're using the pencil, hammer the tack into the center of the square and the top 1/2 inch of the pencil (doesn't matter which end you use, but the metal end is probably harder to hammer through). If you're using the craft stick, hammer the tack into the center of the square and the top 1/2 inch of the craft stick gently a few times to form a large enough hole for the brad to fit through. Pull the tack out and replace it with the brad, fastening it in the back when you get it all the way through and tight enough. If you're using the straw, follow the same instructions as the straw, except you probably won't need to use the hammer. Make sure that the pinwheel isn't too tight, otherwise it won't spin.
4. Now, blow air into the small triangular cups formed by the edges of the pinwheel, and watch it spin!