When fidget spinners became all the rage a while back, they reminded me of an origami lesson I had many many years ago. Somehow it had stuck in my brain, and after more than 20 years I was still able to make this simple paper spinner!
This cool paper spinner is made in sections, and each section uses only basic origami folding techniques. So it’s easy to make, easy to slot together, and easy to spin!
Check out this quick video to see how easy these paper spinners are to make and how cool they look in action.
How to Make a Paper Spinner.
To make a paper spinner you’ll need six squares of coloured paper.
The bigger the squares the larger your spinner will be, but smaller spinners seem to spin better so paper that is around 12cm x 12cm is a good size to start with.
Each square of paper is folded to make one section of the spinner. Follow the instructions below to fold one section.
Don’t worry if your folding is not perfect, they don’t need to me super accurate to work!
Fold the other five pieces of paper so that you have all six sections folded.
Now you need to slot and fold the sections together. Follow the instructions below.
Now it’s ready to spin!
These paper spinners might not be the next big thing like the fidget spinner, but they are easy to make and super fun to play with! Your kids will be making them by the dozen!
If your kids love origami and paper crafts, try one of these fun paper folding activities:
After connecting 3 lots of 2 together, I don’t understand how to get them all connected. We’re not finding it that easy..!
You connect the last piece to the fist piece the same way all the others connect. Slot the triangle of the first piece into the pocket of the last piece. You’ll need to flex the whole thing up a little to make a kind of cup shape with a point at the centre, that allows you to connect the first and last piece and gives you the point to spin it on. Hope that helps