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Mermaids for Kids
The tales of mermaids are as delightfully creative as the thousands of drawings and paintings that have been done. While some tales talk about these creatures as being enchanted, mystical beings, there other stories that list them as being native inhabitants of the deep, mysterious ocean depths. The most common description of a mermaid is that of a beautiful girl with long, flowing hair, and the lower half of her body is that of a green or golden fish. There is always a strong tail fin that enables the mermaid to swim through the water with powerful speed. Some of the stories describe these creatures as being kind, gentle and playful, and they are said to help guide stranded ships away from dangerous waters. Other stories describe mermaids as sitting on rocks watching for a chance to lure passing ships and sailors to their doom by guiding them to rocky passages with their enchanted, siren songs. Many cultures and countries have their own tales of mermaids and even fairy tales embrace these beautiful beings. “The Little Mermaid” is one of the most beloved of all children’s stories and has been retold to many generations of delighted boys and girls. Even the Walt Disney Studio created lovely Ariel, the mermaid princess whose curious nature about humans and “surface dwellers” led her into many adventures. Most little girls have pretended to be a mermaid at some point in their lives and this is a particularly wonderful imaginary adventure when swimming is involved. Mermaids can have unique adventures and dive for treasure, rescue others, talk with their sea creature friends, and swim for hours in the sea, or swimming pool. Groups of imaginary mermaids can have contests and compete for crowns and prizes that add to the excitement of the games. It is thought that during long ocean voyages so many centuries ago that some of the sailors would suffer from hallucinations and imagine sea creatures and other incredible sights. The sun would have been very hot, the trips would have been long, and there would have been times when water and food were in short supply, so this may have been exactly where the first mermaid stories were described. Some people have offered the theory that when sailors first saw the large manatees they confused them for mermaids. If you have ever seen these “sea cows” you will see how difficult it is to consider that anyone could mistake these big, gentle creatures for a beautiful mermaid under any type of conditions. Mermaids may not be real, but it is certainly quite pleasant to imagine that mermaid creatures like the beloved Ariel live in an enchanted land under the sea. This is an original news article © The Kids Window Check out our range of girl's Disney dressing up costumes inside.
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