Hello everyone! Can you believe the fall has gone, and winter is coming? It really is – we hate to say it- because we all miss the warmth of the sun and warm waters!

With the change of season has come a change in mermaids. First of all we’d like to welcome little Merling Aria. That’s right! Mermaid Mimi and Merwrangler Marc are the proud parents to this beautiful baby girl. The Halifax Mermaids are so proud of these beaming new parents. We are excited to spoil this sweet little one! Take a look

With the comings and goings of mermaids, We have said goodbye this November to Mermaid Mutiny, and a new hello to Mermaid Ama. Mermaid Ama was once a contractor for Halifax Mermaids and took a break for school. Now she’s back in full force and we couldn’t be happier. She has been training in the blue Merbella’s tail, and has been volunteering to get her training hours. Soon she’ll be back to a full fledged mermaid and we are excited to have her team back up with us. You Can Follow Ama on Facebook For more.

Hi fish fans! With the summer season ending it’s time for a Halifax Mermaids check in! We’ve been so incredibly busy there’s just SO much to show you! Hold on to your sea shells, here we go!

When we last left you the mermaids had just finished the Pirate Festival and were going into a busy August. Raina did her final booking at the summer camp she’d been attending all summer and it was so much fun.  You can see photos and video below

A lot of potential clients, and people who attend public events, often wonder out loud about boys and mermaids. Some parents don’t bat an eye at booking a mermaid party for a boy, while others who are parents of boys at a party for a girl can get uncomfortable.

I get a few different types that usually go like this:

A parent books a mermaid party for boys. The boys have fun swimming with us, racing us, using the underwater camera, asking us questions about our tails and the ocean, and generally just have a lot of fun.

Then sometimes we have parties for girls where boys are guests. These can go several ways. The way I like is when parents encourage their kids to play. The boys do exactly like the above example. They have fun.

Multiple Intelligences. Howard Gardner is this awesome guy who came up with the theory that we don’t just learn by listening, doing, or reading. We actually learn through multiple ways like through nature, through music, through physical activity, through inter and intrapersonal development and more. Our company is founded on multiple intelligences and whether we’re doing a pool party or working a public event, we strive to meet as many of the multiple intelligences as possible. When your kid- not just your boy- is engaging with us, we are helping him develop his multiple intelligences. Kids who attend our events are often left with an impression on some topic we’ve covered (like ocean plastic) and we hear years later from parents that they still talk about it. We know our system for educating your boys works!

Physical Activity. Current research is showing that kids do not get enough physical activity, and that boys specifically need healthy spaces and environments in which they are allowed to exert extra energy. When kids don’t have that, they end up with restlessness, behavioural problems, sleeping, eating, and toileting problems. An hour swim with a mermaid is a WORKOUT. Your kid is constantly moving, and will be sleeping well after the swim for sure. Plus it’s important to model to boys- who at times can be more susceptible to aggression - healthy ways in which they can use that energy. Research shows that when this happens, boys are less likely to have aggression issues as teenagers and adults. Because they’ve learned healthy self-regulating. At our swim parties boys sometimes have the chance to try mer-fins/monofins which teach them the basic dolphin kick. They can also go for mermaid rides, dive with mermaids, learn underwater tricks and flips, and play in the pool environments which typically include slides, diving boards, rope swings, climbing walls, and wave machines. Just getting on top of a floaty can be a mechanical feat all on its own.

Curiosity. Fostering a sense of wonder is so important for kids. Teachers can tell you that boys and girls will often respond to stimuli differently in terms of being curious. Boys are brought up in society to be curious of one thing while girls are brought up that it’s only acceptable to be curious of other things. Mermaids encourage kids to use their imagination in a broader context, to play along, and be curious. Developing curiosity even through the simple task of asking questions can set up success for later in life, especially in academics. Boys are often incredibly curious about our tails, about our back stories, and especially about our underwater camera. I’m often entrusting a boy with the camera and a pair of goggled while he swims off to capture photos and videos of the whole party.

The Importance of play. There is a mountain of research under the emergent curriculum movement that shows education through play is the best way to learn. It also supports that extremely important developmental and social development occurs through play. Your kids need time to be kids. Boys are no different but are often rushed into growing up. We may allow our boys to play pretend at 3 or 4 but by 6 or 7 we are putting them into structured play environments like sports. There’s nothing wrong with that but kids need (as the research shows) unstructured play. Time where they can take the lead and be sporadic and not have any specific direction. The fact is, so long as parents don’t undermine what we try to do boys feel safe to explore and have fun. In a judgment free zone, boys have a heck of a lot of fun with mermaids.

Boys can be rough and tumbly, kind and loud, energetic and quiet, cuddly or introverted. Boys can be wanting mermaid rides or preferring to swim around with a camera. They can be giving mermaids hugs or throwing things for us to dive toward. They can be enamoured with our tails, or sometimes with our sea shells haha! ;)

The point is your kid only gets to be a kid for so long. These boys have everything to gain from your supporting of them in environments with women. You can teach them respect for women and to value what women have to offer. You can teach them to see that it doesn’t matter if some people think mermaids are for girls or that what we do is girly, because you know better. You know mermaids are for everyone and that we can do lots of things! We want to give your kid a memory that will last with them forever. We want them to feel inspired to take care of the ocean. But most of all we just want your kid to have fun. And sometimes it works best when parents put their personal gender biases aside… and just let us do what we do best.

Please be sure to follow Mutiny onFacebook and you can check out her BIO right here on the website! Mutiny went through a long process do audition for us, and we're now happy to be booking her as a second mermaid at bookings. We're hoping that with her new awesome mermaid skills and merwrangler, she'll be able to branch out and take bookings on her own too!

Have a peek at some of the photos and videos from her audition process!

Hello fishy fans! Raina here with the very first blog posting for Halifax Mermaids! So exciting.

I had a previous blog before which is linked on the "links" tab on the left, but I decided I'd rather have the blog integrated right into the website.

So let's talk about all current news mermaid wise! Let's see where to start?

The spring is finally here and we're all eagerly awaiting the warm weather. Mermaid Ama has rejoined us, and Mermaid Nessie is becoming a more regular member.

Halifax Mermaids now contracts Mermaid Mimi, Mermaid Naida, Mermaid Nessie, Mermaid Ama, and Merwrangler Sean and Marc. Our little business really is booming!

I (Raina) got to be part of a really special video PSA about living your dreams recently. It was a really awesome experience. The team I worked with did great underwater filming work. It is very rare for us to have any experience like that. For our mermaid footage us mermaids and Sean generally take turns using a underwater point and shoot in merky coloured and poorly lit pools. This was only the second time we had a whole pool to ourselves and the first time the cameras were great enough to get awesome footage.

I swam for an hour non-stop only coming up for air and to discuss the next trick we'd try. Even though the pool was very clean my eyes were trashed by the end. (I picked up a wicked eye gel later which will now be my go-to in order to keep my poor eyes clear!) I was exhausted but was able to really master a lot of tricks I have been working on. I do not get much of a chance to show off my swimming ability as most of my gigs are in shallow pools for parties. This was a real treat.

Big thanks to Scott and Dave who managed it all. They're going to be giving me all the unused footage which is really awesome. I can't wait to put it all together into an underwater performing reel to use for our media kit and other things! You can watch the video below.