The 3D World of Dioramas

Isabella’s abuela loved sea animals. Every summer, Isabella would bring a hand-drawn picture of the sea for her. Her abuela always loved her drawings and would put them in frames and hang them on the wall.

This summer, Isabella wanted to do something different. She wanted to make a diorama of the sea for her abuela. She just knew she would love it! A diorama is a scene created by using three-dimensional objects, unlike hand drawn pictures that are flat on paper.

Isabella got all her materials. She knew that her diorama had to be very detailed with lots of colors and materials. The first thing she did was research and look at different pictures of animals in the sea. She decided that she wanted to have fish, starfish, an octopus, and her abuela’s favorite, a crab, inside of the diorama. She gathered her supplies.

Isabella got to work. She placed sand at the bottom of the shoebox. She made the octopus, starfish, crab, and a few fish from play dough and Styrofoam balls. She made sure to make the fish bright and colorful. She placed the crab on a rock and placed the other animals in different parts of the box.

She painted top and sides of the box blue. She used white paint to make waves. Isabella stepped back and looked at her diorama. It was still missing something! She remembered from her research that there are plants in the sea too! She then made a few plants to add to her diorama.

Isabella was proud of her diorama and couldn’t wait to give it to her abuela.

Isabella’s abuela opened the door and Isabella held out the closed shoebox. Her abuela opened the box and was surprised by Isabella’s creativity! She gave Isabella a big hug and said gracias.