Help Me Mama with My Diorama

This weekend, Brenna (and I) took on the first of what I am sure will be many diorama projects. I was vaguely familiar with the term diorama, so thankfully I didn't have to Google it. We didn't "do" dioramas when I was in school back in the...well you know when I was in elementary school. No need to do the math. Much to my relief, a handout from school showed up in Brenna's backpack on Friday giving us the low-down on the project scope and level of complexity. We were to create a "simple" diorama of a zoo animal. All of the dioramas will be displayed in her classroom, and other classes will be invited to visit the zoo. Brenna chose the Cheetah as her animal, because "they run fast and she likes their polka-dots". It was also convenient that she has a Beanie Baby Cheetah, so we didn't have to buy a Cheetah for the display. We did confirm that she would be able to get the Cheetah back. It's a prized possession that she "bought" with the "money" she earns for completing her assignments in Kindergarten. Heaven forbid it become a permanent exhibit...oh the tears...the drama that only ice cream can fix!

Before we got the sheet, delusions of grandeur were going through our heads. How could I get running water into the wading pool and what should we use to create a series of climbing rocks? Would trees made out of empty toilet paper rolls do or would we need to cut branches from the trees out front? Brenna wanted bushes for the Cheetah to hide in. What would we use to create bushes for goodness sake? Should we use a shoe box or perhaps we'd need to use one of the wardrobe boxes from U-Haul (of course then I'd have to rent a truck to get the dang thing to school). So, seeing that it should be "simple" and the enclosure should look like something in a zoo brought us back down to earth. We found a "Styrofoam Diorama Kit" at Walmart, so no need to dream up an enclosure. With some green "grass", Popsicle sticks and tacky glue, we were on our way to diorama-ville. (No, Dad, tacky glue isn't glue that is poorly dressed or spouts off inappropriate comments. It's very sticky and an essential element to proper Styrofoam Diorama Kit assembly.)

Some assembly was required...it was a "kit" after all. Armed with toothpicks and tacky glue, I put it all together having to pry the pieces from Brenna's hands as she dreamed up how it all should go together. If she'd had her way, the opening would be on the bottom and you'd have to use x-ray goggles to see the Cheetah. Thank goodness she has me to keep her on the straight and narrow...well at least properly assembled. The only other thing I "helped" with was the Popsicle stick enclosure. We couldn't have that Cheetah escaping and roaming about the classroom hunting the other animals on display.

The white Styrofoam was crying out for some color, so I asked Brenna what colors we should use. Thinking about all the zoo habitats I've seen, I was envisioning some subtle browns maybe some tan thrown in there, but clearly I am not in sync with the mind of a 5-almost-6-year-old. The left wall of the enclosure is purple, the right wall is pink and the back wall is bright blue. I'm pretty sure if another shade of pink had been available in mass quantities, bright blue would not have even been an option. To be sure, it's the most colorful Cheetah habitat I've ever seen.

Cheetah care was on the top of Brenna's priority list for the habitat. All last week she watched as the level in the milk jug got lower and lower. When Brent went to wash out the empty jug, she made sure he saved the lid for a water/food bowl. She worried all week if we'd drink enough milk or juice to have a 2nd bowl. The Cheetah needed one for food AND water. Luckily on Saturday, we killed a bottle of juice and the 2nd bowl became a reality. She meticulously retrieved small pieces of dog food from the storage bin (not the dog bowls...she's no dummy) and glued them into the juice lid as "Cheetah food". I'm so glad she didn't insist on putting actual water in the milk lid. The other thing she created were some grids made of Popsicle sticks to protect the Cheetah's head from falling objects. Maybe she was worried about neighboring monkeys getting crazy and chucking bananas or coconuts over the walls. The funny thing about these grids is they sit right on top of the Cheetah, but who am I to point out the flaws in her protection system. This was HER project after all. See, I'm growing. I'm letting things go that would normally DRIVE ME INSANE.

It was a fun little project and all made worthwhile when she arrived at daycare Monday morning and was so proud to show her work to ANYONE who would look at it. I just hope it made it to Kindergarten in one piece. It had to survive 45 minutes in the Kids Club room at daycare, a bus ride and playground time before school started. Maybe those protection grids will come in handy after all!