BoxTemplate

Pinwheel Template

The paper windmill: a square slit from each corner towards the middle, with the holes already marked for the four points that fold in. Pin it to a stick and it spins. Kids' crafts, garden and party decorations.

Pinwheel — change shape

Units
Dimensions
Optional parameters
Only here Your own design

Put a logo, photo or pattern straight onto the box — most free template sites give you the outline and stop there. Drag it where you want it; it is trimmed to the cut lines so nothing prints off the card, and it stays in your browser.

Page

Bigger than the paper? Each piece prints whole on its own sheet. A single piece is never split: pick bigger paper or a smaller size. More about printing

Template

cutfold

Drop a picture anywhere on the drawingTap “Add a picture” below to print your own design on this box.

Print at 100% (“actual size”), never “fit to page”, or the box comes out the wrong size.

The pinwheel template, flat and folded

Pinwheel template — free printable dieline with cut and fold lines, any size
The printable dieline at its standard size. Type your own size above for yours.

What this template is for

The paper windmill: a square slit from each corner towards the middle, with the holes already marked for the four points that fold in. Pin it to a stick and it spins. Kids' crafts, garden and party decorations.

Also called paper windmill · pinwheel craft · spinning pinwheel · paper pinwheel template — all the same shape, and this is it.

How to use this template

All four downloads are the same pinwheel at the same size — only the format changes.

PDF printing at home
Print at 100 per cent, or hand it to a print shop as "actual size, no scaling".
PNG 300 dpi Canva, Photoshop, Procreate
Upload, lock it in place and design your pinwheel on top. Free plan and phone included. Full Canva walkthrough →
SVG Cricut, Illustrator, Inkscape, Affinity
Vector, with cuts, folds and labels on separate layers. Cricut and Silhouette walkthrough →
DXF Silhouette, laser and vinyl cutters
Two layers, CUT and FOLD — and the one free Silhouette Studio Basic will open.

Getting it printed properly →

Printing it

  1. Type your size above, then download the PDF.
  2. Print at 100% — never “fit to page”, or every measurement comes out wrong.
  3. Too big for the paper? Pick your paper size and leave Fit the pieces to the page ticked: each piece gets its own place on a sheet and the PDF comes out with every page in it, nothing cut in half and nothing to tape.

How to put it together

These pictures are the pinwheel itself, not a generic diagram — change the measurements above and the template changes, but the three steps never do.

  1. Cut the solid lines

    Every solid line is a cut. Do the inside shapes first, while the sheet is still whole and easy to hold.

  2. Score every dashed line

    Dashed lines are folds. Score each one first — an empty ballpoint against a ruler — or the card cracks along the outside of the bend.

  3. PINWHEEL

    Fold, glue and hold

    Cut the outline and the four slits, and punch the five small holes. Bend — do not crease — each point that has a hole into the middle, one after another, so the four holes stack over the centre hole. Push a pin through all five, add a bead behind for a spacer, and press the pin into a pencil eraser or a stick.

Glue: a glue stick for paper, white PVA on card — hold each seam thirty seconds, and let the box dry standing up.

Questions about the pinwheel

How do I make it spin?
Bend the four holed points into the middle without creasing them, push a pin through all five holes, put a small bead behind as a spacer and press the pin into a stick or a pencil eraser. The bead keeps the pinwheel off the stick so it turns freely.
Why is the middle left uncut?
The slits stop short of the centre so the four blades stay joined. The uncut middle is the radius you set.
Which paper works best?
Paper printed on both sides, or two colours glued back to back, at about 120–160 gsm: stiff enough to hold its curve, light enough to spin.

Print your own design on it

Add a logo, photo or pattern in the panel on the left and drag it onto the pinwheel. It is trimmed to the cut outline, embedded properly in the PDF, and never leaves your computer — most free template sites hand you the outline and stop there. How printing your own design works.

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