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. It is designed to spin when blown upon by a person or by the wind. It is a predecessor to the more complex whirligigs.

Today's 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. Pinwheels provided many children with numerous minutes of enjoyment and amusement.^[1]

• List of toys