Make Garden Pinwheels

What You Do:

1. Have your child choose a square of paper that represents the plants or flowers that the pinwheel will mark in your garden. For example, he might choose orange for pumpkins, yellow for sunflowers, or green for basil.
2. Next, ask him to use a ruler to draw a diagonal line across the square of paper, from the bottom left to the top right side. Repeat from the top left to the bottom right corner to form an X.
3. Now, have him make a mark about 1/3 of the distance from the center of the X on each of the lines.
4. Help him cut each line from the outer corner towards the center, stopping at the marks, so that the center third of the square remains uncut.
5. Invite him to decorate the points on the left side with the theme of the them of the specific plant or flower. For example, for pumpkins he can draw images of pumpkins, and write the word “pumpkins,” in addition to adding any other decorations of his choice.
6. In each quadrant, pull the undecorated right hand point to the center, being careful not to crease the fold. Tape the four points to the center to hold.
7. When the pinwheel is complete, poke a thumbtack through the center and push it into the side of the eraser on top of a pencil.
8. Invite your child to place the pinwheel in the garden.