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View Full Version : Scaredy Catfish!



Aradia
05-06-2012, 02:26 AM
Alright so i've just come back from a festival where I was meeting children BUT lots of the kids were too scared to come and have a picture/talk to me. I was smiling and waving so I wasn't scowling while I was there but nothing really seemed to set them at ease.... perhaps its the fact i'm a half human, half fish mutant. I was trying to talk to them first, tell stories but I must be missing something...

My question is: How to I make kids comfortable/help them get over shyness/want to interact with me?

New York Mermaid
05-06-2012, 02:58 AM
LOL I play a version of peek a boo with kids

I'd hide my hands over my eyes, peek out for a moment and if they react, (like if they wave or seem interested) I'd hide back behind my hands still smiling playfully (lol flirting is the word my hubby uses).. especially with the little kids. Something about a game of peek a boo just really gets them curious. But though its true not all kids are interested, you got to get them interested, make them want to hang out with a mermaid. be curious, playful, quirky, i guess.

*you're not a mutant, you're a mermaid.. remember that :P

Kanti
05-06-2012, 02:32 PM
What Lanai said is a good idea. Try to interact with them from afar first, it might draw them in.
Maybe they're not so much scared as they're unsure if they're allowed to go near you or if
they should.

Maybe you can also try beconing or waving to them? That way it's more straightforward xD

Aradia
05-07-2012, 12:36 AM
Yeah, I did lots of waving but I just got very little shy waves back. Maybe I need to build myself a gingerbread house to lure the children in >.>

AniaR
05-07-2012, 12:43 PM
Have something to give them that they can come up and get, stickers, shells, rocks, whatever! it's a great ice breaker

malinghi
05-07-2012, 03:08 PM
Yeah, I did lots of waving but I just got very little shy waves back. Maybe I need to build myself a gingerbread house to lure the children in >.>

Wait, so little kids are scared of mermaids and try to avoid them when they meet one? That seems pretty surprising. Man, I am going to suck as a parent if I ever have kids, cause I obviously don't know anything about them.


Maybe they're not so much scared as they're unsure if they're allowed to go near you or if they should.

This seems like a credible theory. Maybe if you interact with parents, teachers, and older kids it will convince them that they're allowed to talk to you, and also make it seem less scary?


Have something to give them that they can come up and get, stickers, shells, rocks, whatever! it's a great ice breaker

That seems like a pretty good idea.

Spindrift
05-07-2012, 04:30 PM
Blow bubbles at them and let them blow bubbles as well?

Mermaid Dottie
05-07-2012, 05:42 PM
BUBBLES! That is a great idea, Spin!
I have to keep that one in mind when I do my first event...

Mermaid Marissa
05-07-2012, 06:53 PM
A friend of mine had a bubble machine going and she sang (like a siren luring the kids in haha XD) another thing you might want to do is have an activity for them I have seen some mers that have group showings and do things like face paint, dress up, and pictures (this was at a fair)