Name of Project
Shoebox Diorama Craft
Ages This Project is Suitable For
upper elementary
Approximate Time Required to Complete This Project
30 minutes
Materials Needed
one shoebox, Saran Wrap or similar see-through plastic, Aleene's tacky glue or similar glue, various colors of construction paper, Fiskars scissors or something similar
Instructions
Turn shoe box on its side with the long side horizontal. Decide on your scene, put background construction paper against the bottom (now the rear wall) of the shoebox and paste in place. Cut out various shapes with tabs at bottom or top and attach to the horizontal sides of the shoebox (now the bottom and/or top of your scene. I have used this to make underwater scenes, with some fish shapes glued against the blue background and some suspended by blue threads from the top of the scene. I put brown paper on the bottom and used green paper to cut some water plant shapes to put at the bottom or back of the scene. A city scene could be made by putting blue paper in for the sky first, then use colored construction paper for building shapes and dark paper for a city street in front, with car shapes mounted on it with the tabs pasted down behind the shape. When finished, cover the front of the scene with transparent plastic and fasten to the sides of the shoebox all the way around.
Tips and Tricks
- Pre-cut shapes with or without tabs could be used, or cut pictures out of magazines and mount them on cardstock to include in the scene. Anything with a tab can be mounted on the bottom of the scene. Pictures without tabs can be use for the background, which can include both sides of the scene (the short sides of the shoebox). An interior scene of one room or a whole house could be made and small enough dolls introduced. Several shoe boxes could be stacked to make a dollhouse this way.