accomplish one thing

A couple years ago I made a miniature replica of the Goodnight Moon room. I tried to include all of the many details of the room. I really enjoyed when I would see children ask their parents to pick them up so they could look inside. The next year I did Peter Rabbit's home underneath the roots of a large fir tree. This year's Summer Reading Program was a science theme, so I wanted to have a miniature that would also include something scientific or technical. I considered a factory scene of some sort, but I wanted my project to be book-related.

I decided to my project would be a tribute to Angelina Ballerina, the book character created by Katharine Holabird with illustrations by Helen Craig. After looking through many of the books, I settled on an illustration of Angelina's Dance Studio.

I used a cardboard box with a lid that was for copy paper. The lid was place upside-down and held the mechanism that turned the dancers.

 

Because the dancers spun as the crank was turned, I had to make them double-sided. The background figures did not move.  

The chandeliers and side lights were made from a sturdy but thin clear plastic. The side walls were lined with foam core board, so I was able to cut slits into the board and slide the side lights right in. The mirrors were cut from mylar, and I used rubber cement to attach them smoothly. I used small pieces of lightweight wire to hold the wooden ballet bars in place. The wire supports were poked into the foam core board.  All of the figures were glued to cardstock for extra sturdiness.  The curved roof of the studio was built from illustration board. 

I made the windows by laminating white tissue paper and cutting them to shape. They were just translucent enough. I painted the outside of the boxes a dark orange-y red and made it into bricks with a white crayon.

I included instructions so kids would know that this was something that moved, with an explanation of how it moved.

Sometimes the kids can be a little rough, however, this made it through the whole summer and it still works!