Spooky Graveyard Diorama

Here's a quick play set of a spooky graveyard you can make for your kiddos!

Supplies you will need -

• Standard cardboard box.
• Craft paints
• Craft knife
• Glue gun
• Paper
• Flashlight

1. Cut top off box top (keep to use later)
2. Draw outline of graves and fence.

3. Cut around outline.

1. Draw and cut out a puppet from the discarded box top. Don't glue down - this will be your puppet! You can do a variety of other things here..a zombie head, skeleton hand, ghost, werewolf or you could use a toy.

2. Cut out Gravestone. It only needs to be 3 sided as you won't see the backside. Glue it down at a jaunty angle near the back of the diorama.

1. Cut out some clouds and a moon out of leftover cardboard.

2. Glue them to the background to create some depth.

3. Paint the outside of the box black - (let dry for 10mins before you do next step)

1. Paint the background layers. Make sure there is a contrast of colors between the layers to give the illusion of depth

1. Cut some slits into a strip of green paper or card and glue the strips to the inside edges of the diorama.

If you don't have green paper, you can always color/paint some white paper.

(Be careful not to cut all the way through the strip, you'll need the bottom edge to glue down to the box)

2. Add a funny name or phrase on your gravestone to go with your puppet!

I added a little ghost and attached some dental floss to it's head so I could dangle it into the scene. If you have 2 puppets it gives you a nice chance to interact and create a story. You can use a flashlight to light up the scene and make it spooky. I happened to have a green nightlight which made for a great spooky scene.

I also found some spooky music on my phone which I played in the background to set the scene.

Tips

1. If you are shooting video of your spooky play set, keep the camera low to add drama and don't reveal where the puppet is coming from.

2. You can tape the back edge of the box down on a table edge so that you can still access the hole for the puppet!