noun: cryptozoology
the search for and study of animals whose existence or survival is disputed or unsubstantiated, such as the Loch Ness Monster and the Yeti.
While Brain Drain and Summer Slide may seem like they could be mythological monsters, they are all too real. I’m keeping them at bay (or trying to) by having our nine-year-old son work on his own set of Cryptid Case Files this summer.
We took last week off while we moved. Many of our things are still waiting to be unpacked, including P’s Cryptid Case Files folder. He got a good start on the Chupacabra, but hasn’t had time to finish the case file yet. Now that the file is missing, we’ll have move on to Case File M.05: Mermaids.
Mermaids Aren’t Just for Girls
I expected P to be reluctant to study mermaids, but after a visit to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science last spring and a stop at their Mythic Creatures exhibit, we both saw mermaids in a new light. Between Ariel in The Little Mermaid and Madison in Splash, mermaids always seemed to fall in the princess group for me.
It turns out mermaids aren’t always of the Ariel variety. This week’s Case File might change how your kids (and you) see mermaids.
Books we’re using this week
- How to Draw Fairies and Mermaids– Fiona Watt
- Mermaids and Mermen– Shannon Knudsen
- A Treasury of Mermaids: Mermaid Tales from Around the World
- Mermaids– Lori Hile
- Mermaids– Kathryn Hinds
- Tales of the Cryptids- Halls, Spears and Young
- Big, Bad Book of Beasts- Michael Largo
- Encyclopedia of Scary Things
*We find most of our resources at our local library or on their website.
You and the kids haven’t started yet? No worries. Start here: Cryptid Case File One: Zombies. There’s no deadline and there’s no reason you can’t save the Cryptid Case Files for cold winter days.
More Cryptid Case Files:
If you weren’t at the library you would surely have been a teacher. This is just a wonderful and fun “assignment.”
Aw, thanks for the compliment!