Yea, this year my school participated in Pinwheels for Peace!!!
It was so worth the time and effort.
Next year I'll need to figure out a better way to attach our large, laminated pinwheels to the sticks. Everyone of them came apart b/c the pin couldn't hold them together...... I've seen some schools use pipe cleaners and beads, maybe I'll try that method?
Check out the Pinwheels for Peace website gallery. It's very inspiring!
What a great event - Big thanks to the 2 art teachers in Florida who
started the project approx. 7 years ago.
P.S. Side Note - See the beautiful building in the 2nd photo? That's our City Hall that was ruined in the earthquake we had in 2003. It's finally being rebuilt, you can see scaffolding. The quake happened on Dec. 21st and we're so thankful the kids were not in school. One middle school was condemned after the quake. Now it's been rebuilt and it's literally the safest building in the whole county
to be, if (when) there's another earthquake.
I did the pinwheels for 3 years, and experimented with different ways to put them together. The best way (to make sure they stayed together AND could spin in the breeze) was to use a pin through a bead and then an eraser. Then take a pliers and bend the end of the pin down (make sure you have long enough pins). We did it with an assembly line of moms and me. Assemble, bend.
ReplyDeleteWe made some larger ones too, and they are much harder to get to stay upright without pinwheel droop. We used garden stakes and dowel rods with eraser ends stuck on them. One year I used coat hangers with straws over the ends, but it was a challenge getting them to stay together. I did NOT have success at all with the pipe cleaner method.
Thanks Phyl - I love the idea of putting a bead on the pin. We tried bending the pin w/ pliers, but found that often times the eraser would break??? But it's worth a try again. I'm looking forward to next year's Pinwheels for Peace for sure:)
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