I have 6 facts about mountain lions and a fun mountain lion diorama. Also, you may love the ideas on my post 6 World Wildlife Day Activities to Learn About African Lions.
Today, we’re making an upcycled mountain lion diorama that pairs perfectly with a mountain lion unit study.
Mountain lions have 40 different names. For example, look at these names.
- Cougar
- Mountain Lion
- Puma
- Panther
- Catamount
- Colorado Cougar
- Texas Lion, and
- Patagonian Puma to name a few.
They have the widest range amongst all the wild cats in the western hemisphere, covering parts of Canada, the United States, and most of the South American countries.
They make a beautiful and interesting subject for our latest diorama.
One thing I really love is a craft that uses recycled materials that we’re going to end up in the trash bin.
They’re likely to end up there eventually anyway but this gives a little bit longer life and saves a lot of money because we had to buy almost nothing for this project.
I used a science board I already had on hand from Dollar Tree but you can just use leftover cardboard from a delivery box.
You might need some small plastic animals if you don’t have any. I have a suggestion below that can be used for many things.
Before we jump in let’s learn a few facts about the mountain lion and what sets them apart from other cats in the wild.
Mountain Lion Diorama – 6 Facts To Pounce On
- Because their larynxes are different from those of other big cats, they never roar. Rather they sound more like a person whistling, a bird chirping, or even a woman screaming. You can listen to that eerie scream here. How eerie!
- The young look very different from mature cats, mountain lion cubs have blue eyes and dark spots when they are born.
- When you think of mountain lions you may think of slow, slinking creatures but they can run up to 50 mph.
- A mountain lion’s preference for prey is deer but as opportunistic predators, they will eat raccoons, elk, moose, antelope, mountain goats, horses, and bighorn sheep.
- They are amazing jumpers; they can jump as high as 18 feet off the ground.
- Mountain lions are not considered “big cats”, but they are the largest of the “small cats” at 90 to 175 pounds and standing 2’-3’ tall at the shoulder.
First, I like to grab my handy dandy anatomy books.
I was able to find information on panthers and mountain lions for comparison in our Wildlife Anatomy book.
In Nature Anatomy you can see a small excerpt on the mountain Lion but also information on mountains, some of its prey animals, and more.
Next, look at some more ideas for lion activities.
More Mountain Lion Activities
- Mountain Lion Printable Craft.
- How to Handle a Mountain Lion Encounter
- How to Draw Cougars, Mountain Lion
- Mountain Lion Coloring Craft
- Mountain Lion Mask
- Bobcat vs Mountain Lion: How to Tell the Difference
- Here is a great National Geographic documentary on The Secret Lives of the Mountain Lion Family.
Finally, look how to make this mountain lion diorama.
How to Make a Mountain Lion Diorama
You will need:
- Trifold science board
- Brown paper bag/brown shipping paper
- Styrofoam packaging
- Green construction paper
- Small pebbles and twigs with leaves
- Green, blue, and tan craft paints
- Hot glue gun
- Small plastic animals
Once you have decided where your mountain lion is living, cougars like dense forests, coastal swamps, rocky cliffs, and mountain ranges as their habitat you can begin building.
I am walking you through creating a mountain diorama.
First, cut a trifold science board into half and then cut off half of that so you have just half of one flap and half of the center.
Next, cut off the other half of the centerpiece. We will use that for the base.
Paint the top blue like the sky and the bottom third a tan like your mountain color, tan for this model. Allow it to dry.
Grab the piece of cardboard you are going to use for your base and cover it in glue.
Crinkle up the green paper, smooth it, and press it into the adhesive on your board.
Crinkling gives your “grass” some nice texture.
Add additional color and texture with dabs of green paint if you like.
Once your background is dry, bend it so that it creates an L shape and adhere it to the base with a generous line of hot glue. Hold it in place until it sets.
Now, cut up your styrofoam to resemble mountain shapes.
Glue to the board.
Crinkle up a big piece of brown paper and then smooth it out as you did with the green.
Press all over the styrofoam to cover, glue in place, and add more as needed, trim off the excess.
Gather up the stones, moss, and twigs you have collected and glue them on the ground as well as up the mountain.
Add a water source coming down the mountain across the land, animals always like to stay near a good water source.
Place your mountain lion and a prey animal or two.
I think our mountain lion is stalking the thirsty raccoon who stopped for a drink.
