Pinwheel (toy)

A pinwheel is a simple child's toy made of a wheel of paper or plastic curls attached at its axle to a stick by a pin.

A similar toy had developed independently in Polynesia (known as pekapeka or peʻapeʻa) using either coconut palm leaflets or strips of pandanus leaves;[1][2] in colder climates like that of New Zealand (the toy also called pepepe in Māori), phormium leaves are used.

[3] Today's most popular style of pinwheels is rooted in East Asia.

The design for example is typical of a japanese origami folding technique for a pinwheel.

[citation needed] During the nineteenth century in the United States, any wind-driven toy held aloft by a running child was characterized as a whirligig, including pinwheels.