Materials:

• Cardboard/Cardstock
• Oil Pastels
• Craft Glue
• Ruler (optional)
• Scissors/Utility Knife
• Rubber Band

Step 1: Fold a piece of cardboard into an accordion-style fold. Your goal is to have at least three or four panels.
These panels will create a foreground, middleground, and background. If you do not have cardboard you can use cardstock or poster board. Since cardboard is a rigid material and you will want to achieve equal folds on your first attempt, it is best to use a ruler to measure the panels prior to folding.

Step 2: Open the folds and use a pencil to sketch a diagonal, sloping line from the lower right corner to the upper left corner. The goal is to create three to four visible layers when the cardstock/cardboard is folded. Cut along this layer using scissors or a utility knife. Set aside the scrap pieces. These will be used for landscape elements.

Step 3: Fold the cardboard and get a sense of which sides of each layer is visible. Since the material is rigid, use a thin rubber band at the base to keep the folds together while also having a slight gap between the layers. This can be covered up with additional landscape elements as we work through the project.

Step 4: Using oil pastels apply base colors for the design. You may want to unfold and refold the layers as you apply color. Think of this as a stage set. You want to begin with the broad, majority of colors and slowly add layers to build a landscape. The layer that is farthest away (background) will likely be your sky layer. The one or two layers in the middle (middleground) may be mountains, a forest, or a distant meadow. The layer that is closest to you (foreground) will be the grass, snow, desert sand, et cetera, that is directly in front of you.

Step 5: Using the scrap pieces, cut trees, people, mountains, flowers, et cetera. Cut a variety of sizes. For instance, cut out small trees and large trees. Use oil pastels to add color to these objects.

Step 6: Once you have your pieces cut and colored insert them into your multi-level landscape using craft glue. Remember to consider the phenomenon of apparent size. The concept of apparent size combines math and science to explain why objects in the distance appear smaller in size. If you place an object on the panel that is closest to you the size would be large. If you place the same object on the panel that is the furthest away, you would scale down the object.