Two of my children wants to learn magic, Mary is nine and Ethan is seven,
I have a few questions

1. Should I control what they start with ?
2. Should I control the access to books or Dvds?
3. Should I take them through a trick step by step or hand them instructions then give them pointers as they go?

They seem to have a high interest level, It seems to be a shame to teach them while there still mystified by the magic I perform.

Any advice from parents would be a godsend, I would like to teach them, I don't really what to just hand them a book or set and say go for it.

Thanks

Scott

Scott,

I have 2 children too, age 7 & 5, both boys, and at this tender early stage they are still mystified by magic. In fact they really believe that magic is real.

At this sensitive time I do not want to burst their bubble of belief. I would let them grow out of it naturally.

But at the same time I am also teaching them the real basics. I started them off with a bit of flourishes such as card ribbon spreading, card fanning, ball rolling, etc.

Some of you may not agree with my method but I learnt this from a magician friend of mine. His niece (8 yrs old) was so mystified by magic and so respectful to my friend. Treated him like an idol or hero.

His wife then mentioned to him, saying "Why not teach her a few tricks". He did and regreted ever since. That little girl felt so cheated, after finding out that magic is not what she thinks it is, and today she (an adult) hated magic and do not even want to watch a performance.

Psychologically some children grows out of this 'mystifying age' quite fast while others may take some time. Others may hold on to their belief that there is such a thing as real magic. Everyone is different.

As for my kids, I would wait for the right time. I want them to grow out of it and then start to analyse magic logically. That's the time I start teaching them the real thing.

At the moment I am quite please that they can do the flourishes, learn how to handle a pack of cards (dealing, shuffling, etc), manipulate with balls, coins, etc.

I am so pleased with my 5 year old now because he can do a one handed card fan with bicycle cards. I cannot even believe myself that his tiny little hands can do a single handed card fan with both hands.

I believe that by the time they can accept magic as an 'art' or 'hobby', they would have their basics rooted firmly. They would be able to move naturally into simple tricks.

Hope this helps, Scott. This is just my side of the story. Everyone may have different ways of dealing with this issue. This is because every kid is different and unique.

I'll give you my honest opinion.
I have two grandkids 6 & 8 and have tried showing them how to do some simple tricks. Often it's the secrets they are after and not sincere about learning.
At thier age they really don't understand the concepts or have the patience to put in the work and practice involved to make good magic.
Also, it's likely that they will show thier friends tricks too soon and get busted and discouraged.

However, like James said, "every kid is different and unique."

1. Should I control what they start with?
No. Let them find thier own interests.

2. Should I control the access to books or Dvds?
For videos I would probably let them watch the performance first and the explanations only if there is a sincere interest in the trick.

3. Should I take them through a trick step by step or hand them instructions then give them pointers as they go?
It might be a good idea to let them explore, find out thier interests and come up with ideas on thier own. They may surprise you. If they need help with understanding something by all means help them.

Good luck. I haven't had much with my youngsters

You will also be able to observe the reactions of children towards magic by watching them watch magic performances. Sometimes they lose interest in certain type of magic totally while at the same time like certain type of magic very much too.

We have to really observe what they really want. Otherwise our actions, as parents, will only be based on our own assumptions.

As I have mentioned before, every kid is different in many ways.

Thanks for the advice, I would like to teach them the have been bugging me about it for months now. There sincerity level I'm think they'll put the practice in, and there mature enough not to tell all there friends the secrets, and they would listen to me about not performing in front of anybody unless I tell them there ready. I just want to make sure they get a proper grounding in the fundamentals, so they won't turn out to be a trick collector.

Scott

Scott, you know your kids well. Give them the good guidance they need and they may surprise you with their ability and results.

Scott,

my son is eight and has been doing magic for a couple of years. It was his interest that got me started as I saw it as a way to spend some fun time together. He started with tricks like the ball and vase, dynamic coins and crystal cleaver (Tenyo). Does them all very well. His crystal cleaver routine uses 'Shrek' as a hero rescuing a princess - mainly because this was in the routine demonstrated at the store he (we) bought it. He has quite a few of the commercial tricks and does a reasonable show; got to the finals of his school 'idol' contest. He does a basic cups and balls routine very well.

He doesn't give the secrets away, on purpose at least. Even accidently he is pretty good.

I hope to move him to cards when he is ready. He can learn the routines quite well, but struggles with the sleights.

I have a few DVDs and he loves watching the performances, especially if the magician is funny. Sometimes he likes to see the explanations, so we sit through these together.

I would be happy for comment from more experienced magicians and the topic of kids giving all the secrets away. My thoughts are this: there must be huge numbers of kids who have bought ball and vase (as an example) at some point in time. This pretty much gives away a basic 'illusion' or means to create one. Most of these can still watch a magician and not pick up all the moves/sleights/tricks, and therefore enjoy the show. Even I can enjoy a professional (or good amatuer) and enjoy it; sometimes I can pick the move, sometimes not, sometimes I know (or think I do) the move but fail to pick it up. The 'magic' is more than the tricks/routines its the atmosphere created. So I tend to think we don't really risk ruining the art of magic by letting children play with some basic magic effects.

A little of the subject Scott, sorry. I hope you find the right way to introduce your children to magic; its one of the things I enjoy sharing with my son.

btw - I don't let him play with the finger chopper yet!

cheers

Joker

James,

as always wise words,



this is impressive! My son still struggles with full size cards. It took me a while to perfect the one-handed fan myself.

cheers

Joker

I teach children that age regularly. Start with simple tricks like cups and balls, professor's nightmare, sponge ball tricks (you can use smaller sponge balls), maybe a simple coin sleight or two. Stay with pretty much self working card stuff at first until their hands are a bit larger before going into sleights with cards. They can generally handle Svengali decks, and other simple pocket tricks such as royal magic and adams put out. You can teach them hot rod or other paddle move tricks. All of those are within their range. Once they get some background, Mark Wilson's complete Course in Magic has a good number of tricks a child of that age can learn and do, and you can help them learn from books. After that, you can sort of let them start to explore a bit on their own.

Go to a toy store and buy a beginner's magic set. There are easy multiple tricks in the package. They come in a good price.

Thanks for your kind words, Joker.

I am still observing my second son's progress. I cannot conclude whether he is talented. What surprised me is he is able to do that fan only after 5 minutes after teaching him the mechanics of it. That is a real shocker to me.
.

I remember when I was nine or ten years old and my father use to perform magic for me every Friday or Saturday night. After a few months of him performing magic to me, I bugged him to teach me how to do tricks. My father taught me many self working tricks, but also tried to show me a few of my favorite tricks like a simple vanishing handkerchief. Obviously, my hands were tiny and I couldn't use a TT, but just knowing how my favorite trick was performed kept me motivated in learning magic and the simple self working tricks.

After learning some simple tricks, my father gave me new tricks to learn from books. He would give me tricks that he never showed me and would tell me to read through it and if I didn't understand the trick, he would demonstrate it. I now had a visual idea of how the trick should look and I would just practice and re-read the section of the book over and over until I got it.

That's a good suggestion too, Dynamike. They would be very simple for kids.

Some Great suggestions thanks

Scott

This is a great thread, Scott. Now the parents of children wanting to be involved in magic have a place to share their ideas, opinions and experiences. Thanks for starting it.

When teaching children I have found that slapping them in the head when they do it wrong is very effective.

James

I been thinking the same,

Right know I've been going through my metrial trying to find stuff for them that they would learn the funalmentals of magic, but still have a choice on what they want to learn, I think I'm going to put together a workbook for them that deals with the basics of manipualtion and some easy tricks, for coins, cards, balls and thimbles then a simple cup and balls routine, and tell them when they can do a section well they can have access to the books\DVD on that subject, This will show me how instrested they are without tipping everything.

What does everybody think of this?

Scott

I wonder if we sometimes forget what wonderful learners children are? To them life is so many new experiences and they have a natural desire to learn. I tend to think we should harness this desire for magic if they have it. My son loves to perform for his school. So much so I am considering getting him some stage size illusions (that is not close up tricks). I still don't think we risk ruining the art of magic if we teach our children some of 'our secrets'.

btw James: I don't mean to understate your son's ability. I am impressed with the fact he can do a one-handed fan at his age. I would encourage him to develop this obvious talent. I would guess he would enjoy it - sons tend to like spending time with their daddy doing what daddy can do.

cheers

Daryl

Daryl, we are in the same boat ... enjoying our magic with our children. And that is a real blessing or should we call it happiness.

Gardini,
I like your idea.

Teaching the fundamentals of magic is a wonderful idea. It will really allow you to see how interested they really are.

So what do you feel are the fundamentals of magic?

Communication?
Misdirection?
Techniques?
Principles?
Presentation?

Just curious because I've briefly looked into which effects would best to teach the fundamentals as well.