Mountain Habitat Diorama Printable for Kids

Finished mountain habitat diorama with pine trees, a deer, a bear, a rabbit and an owl

This mountain habitat diorama gives kids a snowy mountain backdrop and a valley with a winding river to fill with animals and plants. They color and cut out a deer, a bear, a rabbit, a wolf, an owl, pine trees and bushes, then stand everything up to make a 3D scene.

It is a good fit for a habitats or biomes unit, a forest and mountain animals theme, or a fun weekend build at home.

What Kids Learn Building a Mountain Scene

Building a habitat by hand helps kids see how the pieces of it connect. The pine trees and bushes give animals a place to hide. The river is where they come to drink. The owl watches from up high while the rabbit stays low in the grass.

The mountain set is also a chance to talk about how animals live in a cold place: thick fur on the bear and the wolf, a white coat on the rabbit, and evergreen trees that keep their needles all year.

Along the way, kids are coloring, cutting around antlers and tree branches, and folding small tabs, which is all great fine motor practice.

Child coloring a deer on the mountain diorama page

Child coloring grass tufts with an owl on the same page

How the Diorama Goes Together

There are only a few steps, and each one is a small job kids can do on their own:

Color the pieces. Crayons, colored pencils or markers all work.
Cut out each piece along the dashed line, leaving the white tab at the bottom attached.
Fold the tab back so the piece can stand up.
Join the backdrop and the ground at the fold. Tape or glue the extra white edge on each page together, or glue both pages to a piece of cardboard so the scene stays sturdy.
Stand the animals and trees on the valley floor, with the trees in the back and the smaller pieces in front.

Some pieces glue flat against the backdrop. Others stand up on their tabs, which is what gives the scene its depth.

Setting Kids Up to Succeed

Color the backdrop and ground first if you are using the black-and-white versions. Big areas are easier to color before anything is glued on.
Start cutting with the bear and the wolf. The deer’s antlers and the pine branches take more care.
Keep the tab attached and fold it straight so the piece stands up.
Use a glue stick and press each tab down for a few seconds.

Child cutting out a black and white bear with blue scissors

Child folding the tab under a colored deer

Making It Easier or Harder

For younger kids, use the color backdrop and ground and choose a few pieces, like the deer, the bear and one tree. Cutting the pine trees ahead of time also helps.

For older kids, use the black-and-white backdrop and have them color the whole scene. Then ask them to label each animal and add a fact card about how it stays warm in winter.

Child standing a deer up next to the river

Child adding a bear to the mountain diorama

Ways to Use It

A habitats or biomes unit, side by side with other habitat dioramas.
A forest and mountain animals theme.
A storytelling scene. Kids use the animals to act out a story.
A science fair or class project display.

Mountain diorama backdrop with snowy peaks and a purple river

Close up of a deer standing on its folded tab

What’s in the Set

A mountain backdrop and a valley floor with a river, in color and in black and white
Plants: two pine trees, bushes and grass tufts
Animals: a deer, a rabbit, a bear, a wolf and an owl
Pieces with fold tabs, ready to color