It’s the first big blast of summer, which means you have to find something to keep the kids occupied. Try teaching them to make their own pinwheels. It’s a fun and easy art project that will keep them busy while you prepare for the afternoon’s festivities, whether you’re planning a picnic or a visit to the cemetery or an outing to a local parade or fair.
What you’ll need:
Squares of paper – you can cut out squares from ordinary printer paper, or origami paper makes a fun, bright alternative if you feel like picking up special supplies.
Push pins.
Eraser topped pencils.
Scissors.
How to start:
Start by decorating the squares of paper. While origami paper is already pretty, creating designs and coloring them in is half the fun of this project so we recommend starting with a blank page. Plus, if your kids have to decorate their own paper the project will take longer, and thus give you more quiet time.
Once your squares have been decorated, fold the paper in half diagonally, then in half again to form two diagonal folds from corner to corner. Then, starting at each corner, cut about two thirds of the way up the fold, leaving about an inch from the center of the page intact.
This leaves you with a square that has been divided into four triangles, all connected by the uncut middle section. Take one corner of each triangle and gently bend it towards the middle (don’t fold). Do not bend the second corner of each triangle in – these unbent corners become the spokes of your pinwheel.
You’ll probably have to help your kids hold the bent corners together. Once you’ve created the pinwheel shape, secure the bent in corners with the push pin and then press the sharp end of the pin into the eraser of one of your pencils.
Now you’ve got a pinwheel!
It is often far too easy to forget the roots of this particular three day weekend – the fallen service men and women of our armed forces we’re supposed to be remembering are all too easily forgotten in the rush of swim suits, burgers and sales. But for too many families this year, those loses are all too fresh. So it’s important to remember what we’re celebrating and, even if we’re lucky enough not to have any personal losses, teach our kids about the meaning of the day.
