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Crafts with Kids: Winter Dioramas

There’s something magical about miniature scenes, isn’t there? A tiny world created from your limitless imagination. And this is a really fun winter project that you can easily do at home or in the classroom!

Some of you out there might remember making dioramas when you were young. Nowadays, there are so many ideas for making these little displays … from using natural materials found outside, to sculpting objects out of clay, to making elaborate paper creations. We love the versatility of a diorama project and the amount of creativity involved. The best part is that you can make a little scene with whatever you have on hand, even if that means paper, markers, and a few (little) willing hands! This is less of a “how to” post and more of an inspiration to get creative and make something!

Any materials will do, and all you really need to start out with is a box!

For our winter scene we gathered:

  • A small box
  • Black felt (paper will work too)
  • Glitter
  • Glue

  • Scissors
  • Oven bake clay
  • Moss and sticks from outside

We also ended up adding some fake snow and a little deer friend from our animal collection.

To start, we cut out a piece of black felt and glued it to the inside of the box. Paper would also work great … again, it’s really whatever you have on hand! We squeezed some dots of glue randomly over the back of our scene and then sprinkles glitter all over to make falling snow. We also lined our sticks with glue and sprinkled more glitter “snow” to mimic the look of winter trees.

Next, we made some shapes with oven bake clay and baked them according to the instructions on the package. Once they were done baking and cooling, we added some black dots to our mushrooms with a toothpick and a bit of acrylic paint.

Then we started setting up our wintry scene by putting all of the pieces together in the box. The only thing we actually glued down were our stick trees. The rest is moveable and can be arranged and played with as desired. We sprinkled fake snow (found at craft stores) and glitter over everything. Sugar or course salt would also work great as snow and probably look more realistic too!

If you’re looking for more inspiration, click on the links below to see other great examples of winter scenes and dioramas from around the web:

And if you’re a member, be sure to check out these thematic units for more winter-related activities, resources, and inspiration!

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Playful Learning Field Guides

Grab these handy field guides on your way to park or walk around the block. Add a basket for collecting and a magnifying glass for observing you are set for a memorable outdoor adventure