Saturday, May 3, 2014

Diorama Fun


What I love about making a diorama is it's 3D effect and how it brings the creation to life.  The possibilities of what your diorama can be are endless!  At the end of my post I will include some sites that share ideas for making a diorama. Creating a diorama works on fine motor skills, imagination and encourages recycling, especially if you use a shoe box.

When my son was about 4 years old he became interested in making diorama's.  Jonathan is now 8.5 but at the time he was a fan of the Sprout television network and Sprout features a viewer with their diorama during commercial breaks. Jonathan asked if he could make one and send to Sprout.  Here are some old pictures of Jonathan with his 'Sprout' diorama creations.

This is Jonathan's winter scene which still airs on Sprout during the Christmas season!
Supplies for winter scene:
Shoebox
cotton
cut out snowman from construction paper
cut out snowflakes
fabric for scarf
plastic tree
construction paper for mountains
string for hanging snowflakes


If anyone is familiar with Sprout then you'll know this is Star from The Goodnight Show!
Supplies for Star diorama:
Shoebox
cotton for clouds
construction paper for stars, moons, background and for Star 
napkin for Star's blanket
straw for toothbrush
bottle cap for moon
tinfoil for some other stars
pipe cleaner for Star's hair
string to hang stars and moons


Summer scene
Supplies used:
Shoebox
popsicle sticks for swing and pool ladder
cling wrap colored with blue marker for pool water
cardboard for pool
paper umbrella
toothpicks for flower stems
construction paper for flower cut outs and background
foam for swing seat


Spring scene
Supplies used:
Shoebox
construction paper for background,sun and mountains
pipe cleaner for flower and handle on pot of gold
paper plate for rainbow
string/yarn to hang rainbow
shredded paper for grass
popsicle sticks for fence

Looking back at these pictures reminds me of how much fun we had putting these together!


Once Tiffany was old enough I wanted her to also experience making a diorama.  We haven't made as many as my son but here are the 2 she did make.

Shapes and 123 Diorama
Supplies used:
box lid
construction paper for shapes, numbers and mountain
markers for coloring shapes and numbers
string for hanging shapes


Our most recent Springtime/Flower scene Diorama

recycled a toilet paper roll dipped in yellow paint for our sun

adding glue so that we could stick on our grass (shredded green paper)

Recycled more toilet paper rolls and painted them green to act as the stems for our flowers

We also added a butterfly which is attached by a pipe cleaner.  I punched a hole into the top of the shoebox, pushed through the pipe cleaner and added our butterfly.  I wanted Tiffany to be able to interact with the butterfly by being able to make it fly!  We keep this diorama on a cabinet that Tiffany can easily reach and from time to time I notice her stopping by and making her butterfly, fly!



Many elementary and middle schools will offer children the opportunity to make a diorama for a class project or to re-tell a story.  Museums also like using  diorama's to explain a certain time in history or the background of a specific animal.

Preschoolers, as you can see, can also have fun with them! For us it's all about creating and exploring art in a different way.

Here are some sites with more ideas for making your very own diorama:
http://www.firstpalette.com/Craft_themes/Animals/habitatdiorama/habitatdiorama.html
http://mod2vint.hubpages.com/hub/How-to-Make-a-Dinosaur-Diorama
http://www.planetpals.com/craft_recycle_shoebox.html

I love that Sprout t.v. encourages creativity by featuring their children viewers diorama creations! If you have Sprout t.v. you may want to check out how to make and send them your diorama!
http://www.sproutonline.com/content/sproutorama

What could your diorama be about?
African animals
Sea creatures
Dinosaurs
Airplanes
Buildings
Letters
Numbers
Lego's



9 comments:

  1. These are great! I especially love recycling other materials for educational and artistic purposes. I can't wait to start making these with my daughter. How old was your daughter when you started making dioramas with her?

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  2. Adding this to our list of things to try! You always have such great ideas!
    Thanks for sharing over at Squiggles and Bubbles!

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  3. These are great! A craft that you can do over and over again and never gets dull. Plus you can theme it to be seasonal.
    Thank you for sharing at #Pintorials :)

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  4. Great ideas! Love the summer diorama.

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  5. hi Susen, i would like to feature your diorama fun post over tuesday pintorials. do join us again next tuesday! Thank you for sharing with us #Pintorials

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  6. This is great - amazing. I didn't know that this is what these lovely 3D boxes are called! Thx for taking part in the Parenting Pin it Party :-)

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  7. `These are great. I love how different they all are.

    Just letting you know I featured this on The Sunday Showcase this week: http://www.herecomethegirlsblog.com/2014/05/11/fun-crafts-kids.html

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  8. I am very impressed with your dioramas! They are all fabulous!
    Thank you for stopping by the Thoughtful Spot Weekly Blog Hop this week. We hope to see you drop by our neck of the woods next week!

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  9. Such fun ideas! They did fantastic with their dioramas!

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