What Can You Learn from Mickey Mouse?

I was watching a Mickey Mouse Club House video with my son. Of course Disney is all about family values and friendship and love. But I started watching it and truly listened to the deeper meaning behind the episodes. It is a cute show for sure. A lot of overcoming adversity and working through problems. Then we ventured into the other room and he started playing with his various sized Tsum Tsum plushies of Mickey Mouse. I started asking him about size and dimension (he is six). How big are Mickey's ears? Why are they so much bigger on the larger sized compared to his body and so much smaller with the medium sized one? We actually got out a measuring tape and measured the circumference of the ears. The ears you would think would be comparable to the length and width of the body but they weren't. It was a fun way to introduce him to ratios.

Then I got to thinking what else can you learn from Mickey Mouse? So we went back and watched Steam Boat Willie cartoons and compared them with Fantasia and more recent Mickey Mouse cartoons noticing how Mickey Mouse has changed over the years. It was awesome to see how his clothing, voice, and yes ear size has changed over-time. Who knew that taking a simple Disney character could bring in math, visual social cues, color change, and even yes, sound and art together. I showed my son how simple observations can lead to amazing insight. Next week we will take a look at other Disney characters and talk about personalities and gestures and social cues. Minnie, Goofy, Daisy and even Pluto are great examples of roles in society and how we can break through them.

I think I may bring some different sized Mickey's into my classroom and ask my students the same questions? Could be an eye opening adventure in mousekateering and math.