An Arts and Crafts Activity
There’s something magical about museum dioramas, those dramatic scenes from faraway places and past eras. It’s as though time itself were locked behind the glass.
Materials Required:
- Box (at least shoebox size)
- Plastic wrap and tape
- Construction paper
- Pictures from magazines
- Small toys/figures
- Decorating materials
Instructions:
There’s something magical about museum dioramas, those dramatic scenes from faraway places and past eras. It’s as though time itself were locked behind the glass.
To create your own dioramas right in your home, you and your child will need a box (at least the size of a shoe box), some plastic wrap (keep this away from toddlers), and tape.
Place toy people, animals, dinosaurs, cars, or other figures within the box; alternatively, you can cut out pictures, paste them on cardboard, and bend the bottoms back to make stands.
Try these ideas:
1: Jungle scene.
Use jungle pictures for the background. Add a variety of toy jungle critters and perhaps an explorer. Try making a thatched-roof hut out of cardboard and popsicle sticks.
2: Outer space.
Make a background with black paper; create stars with white tempera paint. Paste on pictures or drawings of planets and comets. Hang a toy or cardboard spacecraft-and an astronaut or two-from the top.
3: House scene.
Make room scene backgrounds from magazine pictures (Better Homes & Gardens is a good source). Add people, toy or cardboard furniture, and other elements.
Seal up the dioramas with plastic wrap and tape.
This Childrens Activity is sponsored by Zane Education – the home of online Visual Learning.
