July, 15 2022

If there is one thing that can bring the love of science alive for a fun-loving kid, it’s making something cool from scratch. And what’s more fun than learning to build your own windmill?

Children are hands-on learners, and it’s so rewarding to provide opportunities for them to interact with their environment in fun ways and learn through play to support their intellectual development. Bringing science into the picture in uncomplicated, accessible ways in their early years is a great way to also pique their interest in STEM fields.

Additionally, it helps them to develop life skills like being organised, staying focussed, developing their senses and being aware of the world around them. This is because science asks us to question things, like ‘why does the wind blow?’.

However, since most crafty projects tend to require parental assistance when you’re dealing with smallies, it’s also nice when the project in question is not TOO complicated. Or requires multiple trips to a mall for supplies. With kids. In a car. Or dealing with crowded parking lots and trolleys, and check-out queues full of ‘Mom, I want this!’ bits and bobs.

To save you all that needless fuss, we’ve rustled up the perfect project to take on with your kiddo if you want to boost their love of science with stuff you probably already have at home – the classic paper windmill.

Image source: Easy Crafts for Kids

Project supplies

For each windmill:

1 x piece of A4 or A3 cardboard or construction paper (depending on how big you want it)
1 x pencil
1 x push pin
Crayons or markers
A pair of scissors

Instructions

Step 1:

The first step is to get your piece of cardboard or construction paper perfectly square. You can either measure it out with a ruler if you want to enjoy some math action, or you can take one corner of the paper and fold it over to the opposite side to make a triangle. Then draw a line on the excess paper, and cut that part off. This will leave you with a perfect square.

Step 2:

This is the creative part! Get the kids to decorate their paper with anything they want. They can draw a picture, use stickers to decorate it or even cut out pictures from a magazine or newspaper to paste onto the cardboard. If they do stick things on, just make sure that they spread glue over the entire back of the picture, not just the edges. You really want the whole thing to stick to the cardboard securely.

Step 3:

Time to fold! Take your piece of square cardboard and fold it diagonally across so it makes a triangle shape. Crease the cardboard lightly along the edge. Then do it again, but towards the other side. If you do it correctly, you will end up with an X across the middle of the cardboard.

Image source: Easy Crafts for Kids

Step 4:

Let’s cut! Take your pair of scissors and carefully cut along the creases you’ve just made with the folding technique – but only halfway to the middle of the X. Do not cut all the way or you will end up with four loose pieces of paper.

Image source: Easy Crafts for Kids

Step 5:

Get bendy! Bend (not fold) each corner of your cardboard to the middle of the X. It’s very important not to fold, you want to create a rounded shape towards the middle rather than a flat one.

Image source: Easy Crafts for Kids

Step 6:

Once you have all four of the corners in the middle, take the pushpin and stick it through all four of the corners and into the pencil you’ve set aside to use as a stick for your paper windmill. A pencil with an eraser at the back works quite well since the push bin goes into it very easily. If you don’t want to sacrifice a pencil, a paper or plastic straw can also do the trick.

Ta-da!

There you have it – the simple steps to build your own paper windmill with the kids at home. Easy-peasy and lots of fun! If you are keen on something a little more challenging to try with older children, take a look here, and here.

TOP TIP: It’s great to make these before you head to the beach for the day since many vendors sell commercial, plastic versions of these little windmills along the shore. This way, the kids can play with their own creations and you won’t have to buy single-use plastic. Win-win.

If you’d like to expose the bambinos to some more science magic, why not bring them to Wonderdal for an inspiring edutainment encounter?

Research shows that mixing entertainment with education leads to better results in learning, especially for children, because the pleasure of the process promotes the acquisition of new knowledge and skills.

Click here to book quickly and easily.