Great Mermaid Gift Ideas for Girls and Boys
Present Suggestions for Costumes, Room Accessories, Dolls, and Toys
When children express an interest in mermaids (or mermen or merpeople in general!), parents often respond automatically by giving them products plastered with images of Ariel from Disney's cartoon movie The Little Mermaid. Unfortunately, this often leads to children reenacting scenes from the movie over and over without using much or any original creativity to come up with their own ideas for play. As psychologist Dr. Susan Linn points out, toys associated with branded media products do not require or even encourage children to think up new characters or stories because they come with their own already-established histories.
Parents that value originality and imagination might want to avoid Disney and other brand-name mermaid products like the Mattel Barbie Mermaid line. Instead, they can provide their daughters and sons with lovely but generic mermaid items with which children will be free to create their own fantasy stories from scratch, with no preconceived notions in place.
Things for Parents to Keep in Mind When Selecting Gifts for Children Who Love Mermaids
- The default mermaid "look" is generally a green tail, purple seashells, Caucasian skin, and blond (or, thanks to Ariel, red) hair. Search for toys with merpeople that have tails, skin, and hair in a variety of colors, and encourage children to create costumes for themselves and draw pictures of merpeople that break away from traditional stereotypes of what mermaids "should" look like.
- Occasionally mermaid products may include more nudity than parents are comfortable with, so alert parents will check out any product thoroughly before passing it along to children.
- An interest in merpeople and fantasy life in the sea can develop into an interest in actual plant and animal ocean life. Gently take advantage of this and flesh out children's mermaid play with books and toys that teach true science content and facts about the sea.
Recommendations for Mermaid Dress-Up Items and Accessories
Costume items a young merperson might need include:
- silk costume set with a headband, top, and tail
- mermaid fin towel that ties around the waist and ends in a cloth fish tail
- mermaid hooded towel that ends in a tail
- mermaid swim fin pool toy that attaches to the feet with Velcro so kids can swim like a mermaid
- mermaid tutu
- playsilks that can be tied around the waist to construct a tail
- long, flowing wig
- silk wrist scarves and wrist garlands
- silk head garlands and halos
- mermaid tiara shaped like a shell
- pearl, gold, silver, or diamond tiara or crown
- seashell or pearl headband
- seaweed boa
- mermaid wand with a tip shaped like a shell or a sea creature
- seashell and pearl decorated jewelry such as necklaces, chokers, bracelets, rings, pendants, barrettes, and brooches
- purse or handbag shaped like an octopus or other sea creature
- shell-shaped, silver, or other kind of fancy comb and mirror set
Some good mermaid dress-up manufacturers include:
- Sarah's Silks, whose products are all made of natural fiber silk and non-toxic dyes. They offer a mermaid costume set and Sea Pets Wrist Garlands, which consist of stuffed silk sea pet shapes such as sea stars and sea horses that are attached by ribbons to silk wristbands.
- Little Adventures, who offer reasonably priced and modest mermaid costumes.
- Forgotten Dreams, which offers slightly pricey mermaid tail tutus with pearl and seashell decorations and luxuriously detailed but extremely expensive stylish mermaid costumes.
- Fairy Finery, whose lovely line of hand-made costumes includes a fairy mermaid set, complete with "wing-fins."
Recommended Items for a Mermaid's Undersea Grotto Bedroom
- mermaid sleeping bag, quilt, or other bedding items
- pillows shaped like shells or sea creatures
- mermaid growth chart or height chart
- mermaid-themed canvas or giclee wall art that shows life under the sea
- overhead silk canopy or draped playsilk in blues, greens, and other ocean colors
- shell collection
- fish tank
- mermaid and sea-themed vinyl wall stickers from brands such as Wallies or Wee Gallery Wall Graphics
- sea creature rug
Recommended Mermaid Dolls and Playsets
- soft hand-knit or hand-made cloth mermaid dolls by brands like Blabla, Kathe Kruse, and Sarah's Silks
- Fancy Prancy Topsy Turvy soft doll from North American Bear that switches between being a mermaid and a princess
- Deep Sea Fairy House soft playset by North American Bear
- Woodkins Mermaid Deluxe Play Set, which children can play with by changing the flat wooden doll's face and outfits
- Le Toy Van's Millie Mermaid & Shell Bag set
Recommended Mermaid Toys
- mermaid beach towel
- mermaid backpack from a brand like Stephen Joseph
- mermaid diary from a brand like Galison/Mudpuppy or eeBoo
- cookie cutters shaped like shells, starfish, sea horses, fish, and other undersea creatures and items
Many imaginative children like to mix-and-match their dress-up roles, so check out costume items for princesses and fairies, too. And once young merpeople are dressed and equipped for the part, check out some Gift Ideas for Mermaid Books for Boys and Girls.
References
- "Is make-believe vital to kids? You better believe it: An interview with CCFC's Susan Linn" by Nanci Hellmich in USA TODAY (June 25, 2008)
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