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How to make a Tropical Rainforest Diorama for under $20 | DIY Science Projects for Kids

11/30/18 | Activities for Kids, Tips for Moms

My 4th grader Leila was given her latest project for school and this time, she was assigned to do a tropical rainforest diorama to support the lessons they are learning now on ecosystems. Since her teacher encourages these kinds of projects to become sort of “family projects,” – I mean…isn’t that how it always ends up anyway? – we all ended up learning a lot and putting our creativity to the test. The result –Leila’s own vision for what she wanted to call “The Soleil Rainforest.” Best of all, we managed to complete the entire project for under $20! Here’s how…

DIY tropical rainforest diorama for elementary school projects

How to make a DIY Tropical Rainforest Diorama for under $20!

Items needed for a Tropical Rainforest Diorama

  • Shoebox – found around the house (my hubby’s a bit of a sneaker head)
  • Assorted Rain Forest Animal Figures – found on Amazon (4.95) 
  • Moss SCP Foliage Bushes – found on Amazon ($7.89)
  • Moss stones – found at Dollar Tree
  • 1 bag of blue marbles – found at Dollar Tree
  • 1 bag of tan rocks – found at Dollar Tree (or in your backyard)
  • Any foliage, sticks, etc. from your backyard or around the house
  • Glue gun (if you have one). If not, clear drying glue will work as well.

how to make a diy tropical rainforest diorama river or water source

Directions for putting together the Tropical Rainforest Diorama

The order in which you put the tropical rainforest diorama together really doesn’t matter, so I’ll share how we put together the different elements of the diorama. Honestly, we continued to add more and take things away as we saw fit.

1. Start with the shoebox turned upside down to maximize space of the rainforest.creating the folliage for a tropical rainforest diorama

2. Paste a color photo of a tropical rainforest to use as a backdrop for the diorama. Print out this free image of a tropical rainforest.

3. Create a simple river design by carefully gluing the tan rocks into the shape of a river. Then fill the “river” design with the blue marbles. For the best effect, place the river in a location near the waterfall in the rainforest backdrop image.

4. Glue the green foliage and moss stones to surround the river.

5. Place various animals, trees and other “tropical” looking items from the backyard around the diorama.

How to make the trees in a Tropical Rainforest Diorama

how to make the trees in a rainforest diorama for school project

We saved a lot of money making our own trees rather than attempting to buy them online or at the craft store. All we did was to find bare tree branches in the backyard and glue the moss foliage onto the branches. The best way to keep them sturdy in the diorama is to just stick them into the moss stones. Here’s a video of Leila putting these together.

Facts about a Tropical Rainforest to include in your diorama:

Location

Tropical rainforests are located in a band around the equator (0° latitude), mostly in the area between the Tropic of Cancer (23.5° N Latitude) and the Tropic of Capricorn (23.5° S latitude), where temperatures stay near 28°C/82°F throughout the year.

Animals in a Tropical Rainforest (included in assortment of rainforest animals)

  • Sloths
  • Lemurs
  • Bears
  • Monkeys
  • Skunks
  • Tarsiers
  • Ocelot
  • And many more…

The warm, moist environment is also an ideal habitat for reptiles and amphibians. Many types of frogs, salamanders, snakes, and lizards can be found in almost every layer of a tropical rainforest.

Precipitation of Tropical Rainforests

Tropical rainforests are wet and humid. The yearly rainfall ranges from 80-400 inches. It can rain as much as 2 inches in an hour.

Plants in a Tropical Rainforest

  • Ceiba Trees (displayed)
  • Cacao trees
  • Rubber trees
  • Misting Orchids (displayed)
  • Passion fruit
  • Poinsettias
  • Passion flowers
  • Venus flowers

Examples of Tropical Rainforests

Amazon Rainforest (South America), Congo Rainforest (Africa), El Yunque Rainforest (Puerto Rico).

tropical rainforest diorama for elementary school project

If you try this out, please come back and share with me how they turned out for you! Our next project will probably be for the upcoming science fair. If you need ideas for that, be sure to check out these easy science fair projects for elementary school kids.

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Comments | 13 comments


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Comments

  1. chinfing says

    January 31, 2019 at 2:33 am

    This is a good way to make tropical rainforest, This is a nice idea for the kids.

    Reply
  2. kristina says

    April 30, 2019 at 5:41 pm

    im so glad I found this my son has this project due Friday, we have a vision of what we want but this actually helped bring it to life. yall did amazing and your little one looks so happy. love it

    Reply
    • Ari says

      May 26, 2019 at 10:06 pm

      Thank you! She was super proud of her creation.

      Reply
  3. Angela Salinas says

    January 14, 2020 at 8:51 pm

    So happy I found your page to help me with the kiddo’s rain forest diorama. I can’t wait to explore more of your wonderful ideas.

    Reply
    • Ari says

      April 1, 2020 at 1:37 am

      Thank you! My daughter enjoyed putting this together. Hope yours turned out wonderful!

      Reply
  4. Kelli Diaz says

    February 26, 2020 at 2:54 pm

    Ordered some of the supplies today and going to attempt to make this over the weekend! Wish us luck 👍🏽

    Reply
    • Ari says

      April 1, 2020 at 1:36 am

      How did it turn out?

      Reply
      • Kelli says

        April 1, 2020 at 9:48 am

        It turned out so good!! I’d post a picture here if i knew how!

        Reply
  5. Mechelle Maier says

    March 31, 2020 at 6:04 pm

    This was the first image that came up in my google search and my daughter swears your daughter goes to her school. Without disclosing too much, does, “Goooooooo Kids!” sounds familiar?!

    Reply
    • Ari says

      April 1, 2020 at 1:34 am

      Hi there! No, it doesn’t sound familiar, unless that’s another school motto I’m not aware of. 🙁

      Reply
  6. Mara says

    May 18, 2020 at 10:55 pm

    Beautiful I love it! And she looks so proud of it!
    I’m going to try this with my daughter 😊

    Reply
  7. Aathan says

    December 3, 2020 at 10:20 am

    i am trying to do this for a school project.

    Reply
  8. jully says

    January 14, 2021 at 6:27 pm

    omg a have the same school project but online thank you. It helped me.

    Reply

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Meet Ari

Ari Adams Atlanta Mom BloggerWho am I?  Well, to be honest, I am many things: I’m a Chiro-wife, mom of 2 daughters, a friend, a big and little sister, an auntie, cyber hippie, blogger, author, mompreneur, wannabe soap maker...  See? Many Things....but you can just call me ARI.   Learn more about my journey here.

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