Check this out, from our local news, I think this is so cool! I hope the video plays for you guys. She is so inspired to do this, and what a wonderful way to help a child through their imagination. Now I want to be a mermaid!

Woman uses mythical persona to teach children the joy of imagination 

http://thechronicleherald.ca/ArtsLife/1253184.html

AS AN ATTENTION GRABBER at a swimming pool, it’s hard to beat a young woman gracefully swimming in a mermaid tail.

Stephanie Brown of Halifax appears as Mermaid Raina to teach children about the ocean, and seconds after she was lowered into the salt water pool at the Waegwoltic Club, she was surrounded by curious kids.

"My favourite thing about being a mermaid is the look on children’s faces when they see me. They’re not quite sure if it’s real. They know that mermaids don’t exist but the tail is so realistic, especially when I flap it, that they (go) out of their minds.

"They love to come up and ask me questions and touch it, and just seeing how I spark their curiosity and imagination is the best thing," said Brown, who’s working toward her teaching degree at Mount Saint Vincent.

"I decided to become a mermaid because I wanted to find a way to reach children in a way that would make them interested (in) the environment."

The 25-year-old also likes to inspire children to read. "People believe mermaids come to shore to chase after princes, but the truth is we can’t read books under water; we have to come to shore to read."

She says she’s drawn to mermaids because of their mythical qualities and finds them inspiring.

"They also have such a connection to their environment and the ocean, and that’s something I felt as a person, such a connection to the ocean.

"Water has such healing and calming properties, and I feel that being a mermaid I’m able to harness that in my personality as well."

Appearing as a mermaid is also therapeutic for Brown, who grew up in a household where one of her parents suffered from mental illness and alcoholism. Using her imagination helped her escape from the unhappiness.

"And I realized that a lot of children have trouble regulating their emotions and one of the things I do is give out mermaid stones, and they’re just essentially worry stones, and I show children that they can rub them when they’re angry and it’s a really good way to deal with that emotion," she said.

"But I also recognize the value of imagination as a coping skill, and having a childhood where I don’t have a lot of happy memories, I also realize that I can give children a happy memory . . . Some children are not (loved), some children are not taken care of and you don’t know their story, so it’s just so nice and wonderful to be able to give them at least a happy memory."

Brown’s mermaid tail was custom-made to her measurements by an artist in Florida, who formed it from neoprene, latex and silicone, with a special fin inside called a monofin. She has a more elaborate tail on order.

"When you’re swimming in a tail it weighs a lot on land, but in the water it should be neutrally buoyant. Wearing the monofin is the key if you want to be able to swim," she said.

"My friends are very supportive of what I do. . . . They’re always advertising for me and helping me book different gigs and birthday parties.

"I’ve worked with children as young as 18 months, and up to about 12 or 13, but I also have a lot of teenagers . . . and they’ll come up to me with questions and try to find out about mermaiding."