1Prepare a shoebox.

For optimum space, use a large shoebox and keep the lid attached. Positioning the box upright also provides the vertical space needed for tall rainforest trees.

Keep the box lid permanently fixed at a 90-degree angle by attaching a small box at the bottom portion of the hinge. Use a glue gun or tacky glue to keep the small box in place.

2Paint the box.

Use a water-based paint like tempera or poster paint to paint the inside of the box. Paint a background for your diorama with a single shade of green or go for several shades to create depth. Paint some trees and animals, if you like.

You can paint the outside of the box as well. If your box has a glossy finish, paint it with acrylic paint.

3Make half-trees.

These are trees to be placed at the corners of the box. Cut a long rectangle from brown construction paper. The rectangle's height should be at least an inch taller than the box height. Draw a vertical line ½-inch from one long side to define the side tab and a horizontal line ½-inch from the bottom short side to create the bottom tab.

Draw half of a tree trunk starting from the vertical line and branching out towards the opposite edge of the paper. Cut out the tree.

4Crease the tabs.

Fold the side tab towards the back and unfold. Similarly fold and unfold the bottom tab. This should create creases on both tabs.

Next, cut out about an inch from the top and bottom of the side tab.

5Glue the half-trees.

Glue the half-trees onto the right and left corners of your box diorama. Glue the side tabs onto the sides of the box and the bottom tabs onto the bottom of the box.

Fold the tops of the branches and glue them to the ceiling of the box.

6Make a whole tree.

Make a whole tree for the middle section of the box. Cut a long rectangle from brown construction paper— its height must be an inch taller than the box height. Draw a tree trunk with branches on the entire rectangle. Cut out the tree.

7Create a bottom tab.

Create a bottom tab by folding ½-inch from the bottom of the tree. Unfold. Cut away half to two-thirds of the bottom tab.

8Glue the tree.

Position the tree in the middle of the box, right where the hinge is. Glue half of the tree trunk onto the box lid. Glue the bottom tab onto the bottom of the box. Fold the tops of the branches and glue them to the ceiling of the box.

9Make C-shaped tabs.

These paper tabs provide extra support for the branches and are only necessary when the leaves are too heavy for the branches.

Fold a small strip of construction paper on both ends to make a C-shaped tab. The tab must be long enough to span the gap between the branch and the box. Glue one end of the tab at the back of a branch and the other end onto the box.

10Add leaves.

Cut several strips of green crepe paper and crumple them slightly. Starting with the backmost tree, glue the crepe paper to the branches and to the edges of the box.

The more crepe paper leaves you add, the lusher the trees. Try placing them so they extend outside the top edge of the box. You can use different shades of green for contrast.

11Make ferns and plants.

Create some ferns, philodendrons, and other rainforest plants using plain paper or crepe paper. Detailed instructions and more ideas are outlined at our Diorama Plants craft page. Glue the plants to the box using a glue gun.

12Create rainforest animals.

Draw rainforest animals or cut them out from old magazines. You can also print out any of the rainforest animal sets below on A4 or Letter size card stock. Color and cut out the animals.

• African Rainforest Animals
• Amazon Rainforest Animals
• Asian Rainforest Animals

13Position the animals.

Position the animals inside the diorama. You can glue them onto tree branches, behind the trees, amidst ferns and plants, or even on top of the canopy.

14Add more details.

Objects from nature - small rocks, twigs, dried leaves, and other materials from nature can be added to add texture to your diorama. Glue them in place with a glue gun.

Jungle vines - tightly twist strips of green crepe paper to make jungle vines. To make your vines coily, wrap them around a pencil. Glue one end of each vine onto a tree branch or to the box's ceiling.