As promised in yesterday’s post, here is how we made our diorama. I had felt a little overwhelmed right from the start of this project and as I didn’t want the children feeling the same I tried to break it down into manageable sections for them:
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First, we brainstormed all our ideas on the white board. I had been collecting shoe boxes in anticipation of a diorama, and sure enough, that is what they chose to do. The children also decided to primarily utilise our Play Mobil, with T11 building some of the more peculiar characters in 3D Lego. T11 also requested the use of paper mache and I suggested we use tissue paper for colour and modelling.
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Second, I made up some character cards, describing some of the main characters in the inferno. There are so many, I thought cards might be a way to prevent the children feeling overwhelmed (like I was feeling at that moment!)
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T11 took the some of the more complex animal cards and disappeared to begin his creations:
- Meanwhile the girls went through all our Play Mobil gathering characters and props along the way. This process went on to a greater or lesser extent every day:
- I encouraged the children to think of one circle at a time, creating a box per circle and keeping each box as a simple representation rather than focusing on too many details and it looking messy.
From this point we simply followed Dante’s journey through the inferno.
The Forest
Dante begins his journey in a dark wood, where he meets three beasts which almost prevent him journeying any further. Virgil’s spirit is there to help however and gives him the courage to continue to the Gate of Hell which states ‘All who pass here should give up all hope’. Here is our portrayal of the dark forest:
The First Circle
After crossing the river, Virgil and Dante enter the first circle of hell and encounter poets such as Homer talking on the grass. This circle houses the pagans who have not taken Christ as their saviour:
At the border of the second circle awaits Minos with a huge tail to judge each soul and point to the circle in which it is destined to spend eternity:
The Second Circle
From here the two men enter into Circle Two, which punishes the sin of Lust. Here they find Cleopatra, Helen of Troy and the famous couple Paulo and Francesca. Here each pair, who were so attached to each other in life, now find themselves bound for eternity, blown about here and there:
The Third Circle
In the Third Circle, Dante see the Gluttons being punished by languishing in their own filth. If they try to escape they are prevented by a three-headed dog, Cerberus, who slobbers all over them:
And for your delectation here is a close up of the slobber, hand-made by T11:
The Forth Circle
Circle four contains the Hoarders and Wasters. These souls move huge boulders towards each other, and away, and then repeat:
The Fifth Circle
Virgil and Dante then have Phlegyas, the boatman of the Styx, take them across the disgusting marsh into the fifth circle, where the Wrathful and Sullen are punished by being forced to languish in the foul slime:
Approaching the sixth circle, the two men come across a huge iron gate, guarded by fallen angels:
The Sixth Circle
Circle Six was one of my favourite. C10 came up with the great idea to use wiki sticks to create a head full of snakes for a Play Mobil woman to represent Medusa. So cool:
Here, Heretics are punished in fiery tombs:
The Seventh Circle
We also really enjoyed making circle seven:
In the first part of Circle Seven Dante must navigate around the Phlegethon river, a river of boiling blood, where the violent against neighbours are punished:
In part two of the Seventh Circle, sinners who have been violent against themselves, are punished. They have to endure eternity being stuck in a tree and are fed upon by harpies, who cause them to bleed and their wound to pus:
Part three punishes sinners who are violent against God, nature and art. These sinners are tormented on a burning, arid sandy plain:
It is here that Dante sees the hideous monster Geryon, who serves as a “flying ferry” and carries Dante and Virgil down the cliffs to Circle Eight:
The Eighth Circle
Circle Eight, also known as Malebolge (or evil pockets), was our least successful. We had decided to use polystyrene cups to represent the 10 evil pits. In the end we used three just as a representation of how they could have been. By this point we were running out of time and steam:
The Ninth Circle
And finally we come to the worse and thank goodness the last circle. It is here that Dante encounters the six giants guarding the icy pit of concentric circles. The outer circles contain the Treacherous, souls who are now embedded in the icy lake, with frozen tears in their eyes. In the central lake lies Satan in the form of a three-headed beast, half in and half out of the lake, trapped by its icy coldness. In its mouths lie writhing Judas Iscariot, Cassius and Brutus:
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Lucifer with the three men assigned by Dante as being the worse sinners of all: Judas Iscariot, Cassius and Brutus 
And in its entirety I’m not sure how we did it, and I’m certain I never want to do such a complex project again, but we did finish it and in the assigned week. Phew. Never again though.
Wow Claire! What an undertaking! But oh so creative and well done! The kids will never forget this – just reading this post and I have images burned in my mind 🙂 Love how creative and ingenious the kids were with putting it all together. And T’s Lego pieces are amazing!
Yes, the images are rather vivid, aren’t they? One has to wonder where Dante got all his ideas from, most of them are revolting!
I can see why you thought it was a complicated project. My goodness! It must have taken you hours! You’re children will never forget it!
It did take a long time and was done at the expense of other study!
Wow!
Thank you!
This is just so amazing. It is delightful to see it’s details. How long will you keep this up?
It’s gone already. It wouldn’t stand up on its own (hence T11’s head being used as a balancing board!) and we don’t have the room to store it so it was torn down about five minutes after completion.
This was an amazing project. I was doubtful when I first heard about it because I know my own limitations, but, you and your children have a (seemingly) unlimited supply of ingenuity and the interaction of one with another adds to the complexity of the ideas generated. Well done, Claire, and a special well-done to your children.
Myra, from Winnipeg, where we have temps around 0 – 3C, but I stubbornly insist on wearing sandals.
Yes, I too was doubtful. I think it one of the few hands on project that did not have my whole heart. I definitely felt out of my depth. but we did it (primarily due to the children – who somehow didn’t feel overwhelmed at all!) and I think it was worth it.
wow claire brilliant!!!!
I made a late comment about your math struggling student but it was on an old post so I repeat the information here… I’ve had 6 struggling students( my 5 plus my autistic nephew last year) here is a link from Jimmie Langley’s lenses on squidoo, she talks about living math and I enjoyed her lenses very much, hope it helps . Much love from Switzerland , you are truly a blessing Myriam
the link: http://jimmie.squidoo.com/?q=all
Thanks Myriam. I have seen Jimmie’s lenses and they are brilliant!
Really, really cool! I love the things you do with your kids. They will never forget this stuff.
Thanks Kris. You know that is my goal. Lots of lovely memories!
Wow.
Thanks Hwee!!
I almost don’t know what to say. You all are amazingly creative. This seems like such a “grown-up” topic, but you have done an fantastic job in giving your children the vision and letting them run with it. I really don’t know how you do it. Your children are blessed to have such a dedicated mom as their teacher. I am looking forward to seeing what is next.
Blessings to you, Claire.
Not another diorama, that’s for sure! Not for a looooong time! I have to admit, trying to come up with age appropriate ideas for Dante certainly keeps my brain busy. Definitely not the easiest literature to study!
Seriously awesome!
I love that your Playmobil guys lose their hair too, it drives me nuts to find guys with no hair, it looks like they’ve been scalped.
LOL! Yes, we often have hairless figures. Better than headless horses I suppose!
Wow, incredible!!! This is something my kids would definitely love but it sounds like soooo much work, so I’ll just admire yours instead. 🙂 Absolutely fantastic idea!
It was a lot of work and mummy nearly had a nervous breakdown!! Good for you for deciding not to do one. I only wish someone had given me that advice…..
Wow! So much learning went into your kiddos for them to be able to represent Dante’s inferno in such detail. It looks incredible!
It was certainly harder than I had first anticipated! I wouldn’t do it again, but I do think it was helpful for the children.