How to Fold an Origami Pinwheel

Medium level, 13 steps. Traditional. Earliest record: Die Kindergärten (Middendorf), 1848.

The animated version shows each fold moving, one step per screen. This page shows every step at once.

All 13 steps

Step 1. Start white side up. Fold in half corner to corner, then unfold.
Step 2. Fold in half along the other diagonal, then unfold.
Step 3. Fold in half from left to right, then unfold.
Step 4. Fold in half from top to bottom, then unfold.
Step 5. Fold the left edge to the center line.
Step 6. Fold the right edge to the center line.
Step 7. Fold the top edge to the center line, then unfold.
Step 8. Fold the bottom edge to the center line, then unfold.
Step 9. Fold the top edge down to the center line. Pull the hidden corners out to the sides and flatten them into points.
Step 10. Turn the paper around.
Step 11. Fold this edge down the same way, pulling its corners out.
Step 12. Fold the upper left point up along the diagonal.
Step 13. Fold the lower right point down along the diagonal.
Done. Push a pin through the center into the end of a pencil eraser. Blow on the points to spin it.