Hey kids, welcome to another creature feature. We're exploring awesome creatures from old stories.

We'll learn where they came from, what makes them special, what they might eat, and we'll learn some fun new words.

Then you get to draw them and show off your art in our monstrous masterpieces gallery on our website.

Picture a creature swimming in the deep blue sea.

The top half looks like a pretty person with long flowing hair and big shiny eyes.

But instead of legs, it has a long, powerful fish tail, covered in scales that sparkle like tiny jewels.

It moves through the water so smoothly, like a fish and a dancer together.

You might see it near coral reefs or hidden underwater caves.

Can you guess what it is?

A Mermaid.

These amazing beings are said to live in oceans, rivers and lakes all over the world.

Many stories tell of their beautiful singing voices and their love for water.

Some mermaids are kind, helping lost sailors.

Others are more mysterious, and their stories can be a bit tricky.

They are often described as aquatic.

Aquatic means living or growing in water. So where do mermaids come from? The idea of mermaids is very old, stretching back to ancient times. People in

many different cultures have believed in part human, part fish creatures as far back as we can remember.

You can find tales of them in folklore of ancient Greece, where there were sometimes linked to gods and goddesses.

For example, the powerful God Poseidon, who ruled the sea, was often shown with a fish-like lower body.

But the most famous Greek sea creatures that are similar to mermaids were the sirens.

These weren't exactly like our idea of mermaids today.

Sirens were often shown as women with bird bodies that lived on islands.

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