Paper craft

Layered Woodland Habitat Diorama

Challenge (level 5 of 5)
70 min
10 steps
Ages 9–14 (a guide, not a rule)

Uses scissors
Uses glue
Adult help suggested

Start Making Print with template

A diorama shows a habitat in depth: each layer stands a little in front of the last, so the sky, hills, trees and ground seem far apart. The woodland here is home to an owl in a tree hole, a deer on the hill, a fox and a rabbit. Cut the wavy top edges carefully: the gaps are what let you see the layers behind.

Before you start

You need

Card stock printed with sheet 1 (layers 1 and 4), 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
Card stock printed with sheet 2 (layers 2 and 3), 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4)
Card stock printed with sheet 3 (base and side walls), 216 x 279 mm (8.5 x 11 in (Letter) or A4). Thin card stock (about 160 g/m², 60 lb) lets the layers stand on their own.
Blunt-tip scissors
Glue stick
Ruler (to check the scale bar and to help crease)

Decorating (optional): The scene is printed in color. Add more animals that live in a woodland: a squirrel on a trunk, a hedgehog, birds or a badger.

No card stock printed with sheet 1 (layers 1 and 4)? A shoe box lid can be the base: glue the layer flaps across its floor.

For the grown-up: Help cut the wavy and rounded top edges of the layers, and the inside corners where the flaps meet the layers.

Use blunt-tip scissors and cut away from your fingers.

How to place the paper before the first step — **Your paper:** Print the three sheets at 100% (Actual size) on card stock. Check that each 5 cm bar measures 5 cm.

Valley fold: blue dashes. Fold toward you, like a valley.
Mountain fold: pink dash-dot. Fold away from you, like a mountain.
Crease: a thin gray line where you folded before.
Cut: a thick solid line with scissors.
Glue: a yellow area marked "glue".

Step by step

Each step shows what to do (left) and how it should look after (right).

Do this

Result

Step 1 of 10 Cut Cut out the four layers, the base and the two side walls. Follow the wavy tops of the layers closely and keep every flap.
Do this

Result

Step 2 of 10 Mountain fold Fold the flap at the bottom of each layer backward, away from the picture, along its dashed line.
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Result

Step 3 of 10 Glue Rub glue on the back strip of the base. Stand layer 1 (the sky) on it, flap toward the back, and press the flap down. (The base board, seen from the front.)
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Result

Step 4 of 10 Glue Glue layer 2 (the hills and the deer) on the second strip the same way.
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Result

Step 5 of 10 Glue Glue layer 3 (the trees and the owl) on the third strip.
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Result

Step 6 of 10 Glue Glue layer 4 (the fox and the rabbit) on the front strip.
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Result

Step 7 of 10 Valley fold Fold the bottom flap and the back tab of each side wall toward the picture side. (The two side walls, shown larger.)
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Result

Step 8 of 10 Glue Glue the left wall: its flap on the left edge strip of the base, its tab on the front of layer 1's edge. (Back to the diorama.)
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Result

Step 9 of 10 Glue Glue the right wall the same way on the right edge.
Do this

Result

Step 10 of 10 Check Look in from the front at eye level: the sky seems far away and the fox seems close. Name each animal and where it lives.

A paper diorama: a sky with mountains at the back, hills with a deer, trees with an owl in a hole, and a fox and rabbit on the grass in front.

You made it!

Yours may look a little different. That is part of making things by hand.

Print the steps

Template

Print the template at 100% (Actual size), not "Fit to page". Then measure the check bar with a ruler: it must be 5 cm (2 in) long.

Sheet 1: layer 1 (sky) and layer 4 (ground) · 176 × 185 mm. Each layer is 170 mm (about 6.7 in) wide. Print at 100%.
Sheet 2: layer 2 (hills) and layer 3 (trees) · 176 × 215 mm. Print at 100%.
Sheet 3: base and side walls · 176 × 212 mm. The base is 170 x 80 mm. Print at 100%.

Print the template

If something goes wrong

A layer leans forward or back.

Crease its flap sharply and press the whole flap flat on its strip; hold it for a minute while the glue sets.

The layers hide each other.

Each layer must stand on its own strip: back layer at the back, layer 4 at the front.

A side wall does not fit.

Its tall end goes at the back against layer 1, and the low end at the front.

A thin part of a layer tore.

Mend it from the back with a small piece of tape.

Helpful hints

Cut the inside corners of the wavy edges with the tips of your scissors, turning the paper as you go.
Glue the layers from back to front so your fingers have room.

An original PlayOwl project.