How to Make a Diorama for a Social Studies Project
A diorama is a little world built inside a box. Museums sometimes have huge dioramas inside clear plastic boxes so visitors can see different countries or time periods. A smaller-scale diorama for a school social studies project is easy to make from a shoe box. Adding magazine pictures and small toys can help you build your own little world.
Other People Are Reading
Things You'll Need
- Shoe box
- Construction paper
- Paint
- Glue stick
- Magazines
- Art supplies
- String
Instructions
-
-
1
Paint the inside and the outside of the shoe box and lid. Use a thin layer of paint and allow it to dry completely to avoid saturating the cardboard. When the pieces are dry, lay the top upside down on a work surface. Set the base on its side inside the lid, pushed against the back rim of the lid. The inside of the base of the box should be facing you with the front edge of the lid sticking out a few inches beyond the base. This is the body of your diorama.
-
2
Research the subject of your diorama to get ideas for decoration items.
-
-
3
Find magazine pictures, small toys or anything else that will fit inside the box to establish your theme. Glue the pictures to pieces of cardboard from food boxes to make them stiffer.
-
4
Decorate the diorama with the items you've collected. To make items such as a sun, birds or an airplane appear as if they are in the sky, hang them from what is now the top of the diorama. Make a small hole in the top of the picture and one in the top of your diorama. Thread string up through the hole in the picture and tie a knot in the end of the string. Thread the other end through the hole in the top of the diorama and tie another knot, or tape the string in place.
-
1
Tips & Warnings
If you're using pictures and want to mount them to the bottom of the diorama, leave material at the bottoms to form tabs, glue those tabs to the bottom of the diorama and fold the images to make them stand erect.
