FloPo | Creating outdoor windmills from paper and craft materials to observe wind movement

Step-by-Step Guidance

1. Set up a safe outdoor area with a flat surface and space for the windmills to spin. 2. Show children how to prepare blades by drawing or cutting a square and decorating it with color and pattern. 3. Create a central hole and attach blades with a split pin or large brad so they can rotate. 4. Attach the windmill to a craft stick using tape or glue so the assembly remains secure. 5. Place windmills outside in a breezy location and observe their movement. 6. Bring attention to wind direction, speed and how the blades respond. 7. Offer opportunities to make a second windmill or adjust blade position to explore different movement. 8. Clean up materials and store safely.

Learning Objectives

This activity provides opportunities for expressive arts and design as children experiment with color, shape and motion; it supports understanding the world as they observe wind and weather; it promotes physical development through cutting, folding and assembling; it develops communication and language as children describe what they see and ask questions.

Adult Role

Facilitate a safe, patient process by setting up a tidy, low-distraction workspace; Model careful handling of scissors and pins; Prompt children with simple language about wind and movement; Support turn-taking and sharing of tools; Observe and respond to emerging ideas, offering help only when needed; Ensure outdoor safety and supervise at all times.

Observation Cues

Children name wind and movement words (spin, breeze, gust) and describe blade motion; Children place windmills outside and adjust positions to catch breezes; Children demonstrate fine motor actions: folding, hole-punching, attaching blades; Children share tools and take turns; Adults note emerging collaboration; Children persist with a blade or experiment with different blade positions; they revisit the windmill area to compare movement over time.

EYFS Links

Expressive Arts and Design: children explore color, shape and motion as they decorate blades and observe movement. Understanding the World: children observe wind and weather, linking to seasons and outdoor exploration. Physical Development: children develop fine motor skills through cutting, folding and assembling and gross motor movement when rotating windmills outdoors. Communication and Language: children describe what they see, compare movement, and use new vocabulary related to wind and weather.

Age adaptations

Budding Adventurers

Children assist in simple assembly tasks under supervision, such as aligning blades and pushing a large brad through a pre-punched hole. Provide oversized, easy-to-grip components and a stable outdoor stand. Encourage them to name colors, describe the wind, and observe how the blades rotate when attached to a stick. Adults scaffold by offering prompts and hands-on support only as needed.

Curious Investigators

Children can participate in more steps, including folding, punching with guidance, and attaching blades to the central pin with verbal assistance. They may attempt a simple prediction about which windmill spins faster when positioned differently. Encourage turn-taking, collaborative problem solving, and describing cause-and-effect relationships observed in wind movement.

Confident Discoverers

Children independently complete the windmill assembly with minimal support, compare movement of two windmills under similar wind conditions, and discuss factors that influence spinning (blade angle, wind strength). They may document observations through drawing or simple labels and set up a mini wind-tunnel style test area to explore wind effects on rotation.

Ethos adaptations

Prepare a simple tray for each child with one 15x15 cm paper square, one pair of safety scissors, one large brad/split pin, one wooden dowel and a short length of tape. Arrange items in order of use on a low table or marked mat and remove extra decorative materials so the task isolates cutting, folding and fastening for motion. Provide one plain windmill template per tray so the visual outcome is clear and the child can reach and return materials independently. Show the whole sequence once: slowly cut or fold the template, pierce the centre, fix the brad and attach to the dowel, then step back and limit talk to a few safety reminders. After the single demonstration, observe each child’s control and repetition: notice precise cutting, whether the brad is too tight or loose (self-correction visible by checking spin), signs of concentration, and use of weather vocabulary, rather than giving step-by-step prompts.

In an outdoor or nature-integrated space, the activity moves to a grassy area, a sheltered courtyard or garden edge with varied surfaces and natural anchor points. Materials such as recycled paper, fabric scraps, leaves and feather decorations, natural sticks or small split logs for shafts, wooden dowels and stones for weights are provided in an open-ended way rather than pre-arranged; real hole-punched wooden discs or split pins are available for secure joins. Children may pin, tie or balance blades on different natural supports and place windmills in sun, shade or near a hedge to compare movement. The adult observes from nearby, checking joins and modelling safe handling of scissors or brads, then stepping back to offer short, responsive prompts or single-word descriptors when asked. Materials are arranged accessibly so children choose tools and fastening methods, test blade shapes and angles, reposition windmills and repeat experiments without a fixed outcome. The adult manages risk by remaining close to intervene if needed while allowing children to explore cause and effect, describe what they see and decide how to adapt their designs.

Arrange an outdoor maker area with low tables, a chest of loose parts and a pegboard where windmill components are visible and self-serve; place workstations at varying heights and a sheltered spot so children can test sails in different wind conditions. Replace single-use templates with varied open materials — assorted paper sizes, fabric scraps, recycled plastic, different dowel lengths, wooden sticks, string, and loose connectors — so the child may combine elements, repeat, abandon or rework designs without a fixed final form. The adult steps back as an observer and co-researcher, using commentary: "I can see the blades turning faster there" or "You’re trying a longer stick—what happens next?" rather than giving instructions, while maintaining safe use of scissors and fasteners. The child may choose to hang, hold or fix windmills into the ground and compare responses across sites; the adult notices patterns in exploration, persistence, language about wind and motion, and records moments of problem-solving and communication as they unfold.

A small, quiet making area is defined with a neutral cloth on a sturdy table near the door so finished windmills can be taken straight outside; a shallow wooden tray contains offcuts and tools to keep the space clear. The materials are arranged simply: square sheets of unbleached or softly tinted paper, smooth wooden dowels, small wooden beads as spacers, metal split pins, cotton thread, a small pot of flour-and-water paste, soft block crayons or graphite pencils, rounded-tip metal scissors, and a plain handheld metal punch. Only a few pieces are set out at a time. The adult models calm, safe handling of tools and a single way to join paper to dowel, using minimal words and pausing so the process can be seen, then steps back to observe. The child chooses paper, cuts and folds at their own pace, tries assembling, and returns to adjust bead spacing or pin tightness; outdoors they place windmills at different heights, watch slow and fast turns, and describe what they notice. The adult offers quiet, specific help only for safety, mirrors key weather words, and notes when it is time to tidy.

Creating outdoor windmills from paper and craft materials to observe wind movement

Time & Space