Water Cycle Diorama

Have your kids ever asked where rain comes from? This fun projects helps kids understand the water cycle and where water comes from. The U.S. Geological Survey has an in-depth kid friendly water cycle diagram that’s not only fun to look at, it’s also interactive! Kids can mouse around the different areas of the diagram and see exactly where water flows through the air and the earth. We live in an earth conscious world so this is a fabulous teaching activity, especially for a rainy day!

You will need:

Cereal box
Construction paper
Miniature cupcake liners
Tools: glue stick, scissors, black marker, crayons, white paint pen or crayon

Cut the back of the cereal box off, leaving about a 3/4-inch border to create a shadowbox.

Attach blue construction paper inside the box as your background color.

Use construction paper to create mountains and grass. You will also need a body of water, such as a lake or ocean. Cut trees and clouds from construction paper as well to complete your scene.

Use crayons to color cupcake liners to make flowers. Since the liner will be flattened out when you color it, insert the colored liner into a new liner and glue them together.

Glue the flowers inside your shadowbox.

Use a white paint pen or crayon to add snowflakes and raindrops to demonstrate water coming from the clouds. Also, draw a waterfall and stream going from the mountains to the lake. Discuss with your kids how water, combined with sunshine, helps the flower to bloom and grow.

Add construction paper labels to the different sections of your diorama, displaying the different stages of the water cycle. Be sure to check out the interactive diagram linked at the top of this post to read all about the different stages of this awe inspiring cycle of nature!

Project created by Amanda Formaro for Kix Cereal. Amanda is a well-known craft expert and has been writing and crafting on the Internet for over fifteen years. Find out more on her blog, Crafts by Amanda, where she shares tutorials with step-by-step photos for adults and kids alike.