Make a rainforest liana vine to decorate a room. This simple-to-make string make a great classroom or home decoration. It represents a rainforest vine full of leaves, flowers, butterflies, caterpillars, snakes, lizards, sloths, and other life. You can drape the colorful string around the classroom, from the ceiling, or over the windows.
Liana is a woody, climbing vine that grows on tree trunks in order to reach sunlight in the rainforest. Rattan, used for making wicker furniture, is made from liana vines.
- Construction paper (many colors)
- Crayons or markers
- Scissors
- Glue, tape, or staples
- A long piece of green or brown yarn or string
Instructions
Draw a leaf on a piece of construction paper. Make sure to draw a thick stem on the top (your leaf will hang from this stem, which will be folded over). If you’d like, use a leaf template.
Cut out the leaf. Draw the leaf veins if you wish. Then fold the leaf’s stem in half.
Attach the leaf to a long string using tape, glue, or staples. Make more leaves and attach them to the string.
Make flowers, butterflies, caterpillars, snakes, and other animals for the vine (if you’re really adventurous, try iguanas and sloths).
For a butterfly template, click here. A nice way to attach butterflies to the vine is by taping (or stapling) a V-shaped pipe cleaner to the butterfly’s head (as its antennae), and then twisting the pipe cleaner to attach it to the vine.
Draw details on your flowers and animals, and attach them to the string (using tape, glue, staples, or pipe cleaners).
Hang your rainforest vine across the room for a colorful rainforest decoration.