Make a Miniature Room Model
Activity Guide. March 2025.
This project is inspired by Love Grows Everywhere, a storybook that illustrates love as a humble concept that come from people who put thought and care into places they visit and live in. Just like plants, love is planted and nurtured.
Learn more about where love grows by finding this book at our chill zones in Rediscover Venice and Mid City, or watch this read aloud by Yogi Squad on YouTube.
Written by Barry Timms (@barrytimmsauthor); illustrated by Tisha Lee (@tishalee_art).
Whether in visiting spaces of nature or designing their living quarters, love grows when people intentionally take care of them. With this in mind, create a charming miniature room. Design a space that feels cozy or where communities grow. What spaces feel warm to you? They could be at home, your local community garden, your favorite coffee/tea shop, and in other outdoor/indoor spaces. Crafting on a small scale encourages patience and attention to detail, allowing you to precisely bring your ideas to life. Design and build your own mini-masterpiece–no X-acto blades required, just scissors and some slowing down!
STEP 1 - Make a sketch.
Imagine the space you'd want to build a miniature model or diorama for. Make a sketch on a sheet of paper with a pen or pencil. Who is this space made for? Is it a home for a family of 5? Is it a communal space in the middle of the city where people go for a stroll?
See this spread from the book for inspiration.
STEP 2 - Gather your tools and materials.
Materials
- Cardboard
- Crafting paper
- Plain white
- Assorted colors
- Scrapbooking paper
- Scraps from junk mail
- Corks / Bottlecaps
- Yarn
- Fabric/Felt scraps (*PRO TIP: samples from home improvement projects such as paint samples, fabric/carpet samples, and similar items make for great model additions.)
- Sticks/skewers or wire
- Other materials as needed!
Tools
- Scissors
- Kitchen scissors work well for cutting cardboard
- Screwdriver or awl
- Tape/glue stick
- Markers
- Make it colorful!
- Pen/Pencils
- School glue
- *Optional: hot glue gun and glue sticks.
Many of these tools can be found in our Tinkering Toolkit.
STEP 3 - Build the base.
Your model needs a container! Just so it's easy to move and travel with.
You can use:
- A box (or part of one.) We recommend the half box platform (3 walls + floor) or a quarter of a room (2 walls + floor joint at a corner.)
- A single panel base.
- Build the whole model as a self-standing building.
This project was built in a Quarter Room structure (2 walls + floor joint at a corner.)
STEP 4 - Design and create furniture pieces.
Draw on small pieces of cardboard or paperboard to make furniture. Color walls with paper or fabric, and use single-use packaging/paper to build 3-D shapes. Find fun materials like foam or felt to make softer furniture like couches or beds.
Consider using the following adhesive techniques with different material combinations:
Use tape, liquid glue or glue sticks when sticking...:
- paper on paper
- paper on cardboard
- leaves on paper and cardboard
- paperboard with all of the above
Use tape or hot glue when sticking...:
- 3-D plastics
- Fabrics on paper or other fabrics
- Metals or tin on plastic/cardboard
- Sticks/skewers on cardboard (You can also use tape for this.)
- Other 3-D materials
Learn to make stable attachments by studying the Cardboard Connections techniques from the Boxitectures activity guide.
**PRO-TIP: Try different ways to use maker tools; art is experimental! It's okay to experiment as long as you use the tools safely. Ask a grown-up for guidance or watch our Tiny Techniques videos for how-tos.
ADULT HELPERS
For any tips on how to use specific tools safely, visit our YouTube library for Tiny Techniques.
RESOURCES
Activity Guide by Hanabee Cartagena.
