Making Trees for Dioramas – for Mrs. Watson’s 2/3 Class

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http://mrswatson.ca/2012/06/24/habitat-dioramas/

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Hello Mrs. Watson's 2/3 Class,

Having seen your wonderful dioramas, I thought I would share how I make trees for dioramas.

You will need some copper (or similar) wire about the length of the tree height you want, wood (PVA) glue, coloured soft foam cut into very small pieces to make leaves and scissors.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

1. Remove most of the plastic coating from the wire. (Have an adult help here.) A small amount can be left on to make the wire easier with which to work.

2. Twist about half the length together to make the tree truck.

3. Open out the copper wire strands on the top half to make the branches.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

4. Either brush on wood glue or dip the wire branches in glue taking care with the fine wires as they can bend easily. You can add some more later if you need more leafy branches.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

5. Roll or dip the gluey branches into the small pieces of cut foam. They should stick to the glue.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

6. Stand the tree in some modelling clay, Blu-tack or in a piece of white packaging foam until dry. You can add extra glue and foam to some branches if needed.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

7. You can use thicker wire for larger trees or bigger trunks. The one on the right has used thicker and thinner wire to make a larger tree.

Schools and students have permission to use this graphic for non-commercial, educational purposes.

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When I last showed a class how to make these for a class diorama, I had 30 to 40 trees made within an hour. They are interesting to make and add a little more realism to dioramas set outside.

Have fun with dioramas. 🙂

@RossMannell

2 thoughts on “Making Trees for Dioramas – for Mrs. Watson’s 2/3 Class

  1. MJ

    Hello! What a great idea! I am just wondering what kind of green foam you used. I can’t seem to find anything quite like it. Could you tell me what you used?
    Thank you so much,
    MJ

    Reply
    1. rossmannell

      Post author

      Hi MJ,
      You can search for kitchen/bathroom sponges of suitable colour but one of the best sources for model making are hobby shops. There are numerous packs of materials to represent grass, trees and flowers. I have containers of a number of the materials I use if needing to make a diorama. The sponge option is a cheaper alternative but can take a bit of searching for suitable colours.
      When I demonstrated the tree making to a class some ten years back, we soon had over 100 small tress we used when making a diorama of Uluru (Ayers Rock) as part of our Australian studies.
      Good luck 🙂

      Reply

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