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i have to do a magic show for elementary school kids

about 30 of them

what kind of magic routine do you recommend?


any particular magic?

If you go to the Intros forum and tell us a bit about what magic you do etc, we may be in more of a position to help.

You also could do with giving us more info here.

When is it?

What ages are they?

How many?

What do you already know/do magic wise?

Are you just doing magic, or games and balloons aswell?

i havent been doing magic for a long time

but i do have some exerpence

i do mostly card tricks ... a lot of ambitios card routines . mind reading . force cards etc etc

i also do some other prop magic

ive done a lot of coins also ... very comfortable with coins


this is for ages 5-10 im guessing about 30 kids


thnx in advance~

How long before the performance and just as important, how long each day can you practise for it?

Some ideas for props/ routines:

Hippitty Hop Rabbits.

Dream Bag.

A Change Bag.

Drawer Box.

Balloon models.

The above depends on if you are thinking of doing more childrens shows, as it can be expensive if it is a one off. I have only liosted a few items, there are many more. What props have you got? Which ones are you already happy about performing with, as it could be a better idea to try to adapt to suit.

im on summer vacation .. but i have stuff to get ready for

so but i still have around couple hours to practice everday ... and the performance is next week friday

i'll look into the requests ... thanx!


more advice and recommendation please~


can u give me a discription of the magic that you mentioned above?

If it is that soon then DONT buy anything I have suggested. Look at what you currently have and think how you can change the patter for children.

Don't do lots of cards as the younger children wont know what suit is what etc.

Sorry to say it sounds as if you have just rushed in without thinking.

Enthusiasm is good and I'm sure we can help for the future, but there isn't much time for you to learn for a show next week!

You still haven't said what props/routines you have already got that you can do. We may be able to make suggestions on these if you let us know.

I sort of agree with some of the advice, particularly about concentrating on what you know already.

Kids of that age just love stories and you could get them all to sit around you close-up and then tell them a story where you can illustrate with magic.

I think that children of this age group can already relate to money whereas they may have difficulty with the concept of cards unless it's very visual such as colour changes etc. With you being comfortable with some coin effets then this should be the easier option as there are potentially loads of stories about Kings counting their gold coins etc; which can of course be related back to cards AND coins.

I'd take this route given the time and perhaps budget and give the hippety hop rabbits and similar tricks a miss.

Hope that this helps and remember to come back and tell us what you ended up doing and how it was received.

i have a dominos trick

sponge balls

like i said i did mostly card tricks

and if theres a self working magic then i wouldnt mind spending some money

also im a fast learner .. ive got the coin trick down in 3 weeks .. and ive done perfect ambitious card routines 3 days after i learned them

*hint hint i probably practice a lot*

im looking into ... a trick with slush powder .. the powder that makes water dry up ... umm also . maybe some stuff with money .. and some napkin tricks

can someone teach me this one
http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=787

if its possible id liiek to kno how thats done

Hate to say it, but learning a trick is quite often the easy part.

Learning how to PERFORM it takes much longer.

Unless you can do that properly, with a well rehearsed scrript, you are not ready.

A bad performance will affect the children and you, in the fact it could put you off magic.

Is it your school you are performing for?

If so, is it something they have pushed you into?

My advice if that was the case would be to talk to them about doing it another time, if it was possible.

its actually for my church

but with elementary school kids

Has it been advertised? If not please pull out now and explain that you are not ready to perform yet.

You will earn huge respect if you do, as it shows you are serious about learning about magic, rather than wanting to show some tricks.

You will also then be pointed to some routines suitable for church magic, aswell as childrens.

I know it sounds harsh, but it's not. If you rush in and make a mess of it because you aren't prepared nobody will enjoy it.

I know I wasn't prepared when I did a show, so I am in no way having a go.

I have learnt from my mistakes. The best thing I can do, is to try and stop others doing the same.

i actually have to do this .. i have no choice

if i dont do it .. then someone else is going to do it

and this other person has no magic experience

so i told her i will help her out

i understand that i not ready for performance but i do have a teacher who i am learning from and i can go in to get some performance help from him

thnx for all the advice .. but since i have no choice

can someone recommend some stuff .. and i can go to my teacher and ask him to help me create a routine thnx

toxict3arz wrote:can someone teach me this one
http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=787

if its possible id liiek to kno how thats done

Sorry but we can't tell you how to do this, you'd have to buy it from the supplier like veryone else because they have the legal ownership and copyright.

I have been doing kid shows for about two years now, and my opinion about kids just grew stronger, less mentalisem and cards, no matter how amazing are they, and more colorful funny stuff.
Now, if you are talking about kids around the age of 10-12 years old, maybe you can get away with a 2-3 card tricks, but no more. and believe me I love card tricks and I kick ass with them (mentalisem.. well less, I don't like all the "I am the god that is better then you" shtick) but when it comes to kids with short attention span you really don't want to bore them cuz if you lose them for only a moment you can just try and keep them from running around you like sugar rush freaks. Almost the only card trick I do in my kids show routine is an excuse to use my appearing card castle, which kids go crazy for.

So in other words, if you have jumbo cards, even if only one, make a routine with it.
If you know a card routine that is simple for the lay people to follow, but very funny (and we are talking about "kids funny" to "playboy funny") do it.
If you know magic that revolves a story, like a card tricks that involve a story about the king/queen/jack do it.
If you know any other magic, even stuff you consider lame impromptu but is interesting and maybe colorful - do it.

To help you, here is a routine I thought of that I some times do when I have spare time left in the show or the kid's parents chops off my fire magic bit:
Get a piece of cardboard or what ever, and write on one side "If the card is X clap your hands" with a pic of that card (so it will be more visual), and on the other side of the cardboard write "keep looking at the card".
then in performance all you need to do is force that card on a kid and tell him to show it to the other kids and keep doing so while looking at the card, then go behind him and lift the sign you made, at some point the kid holding the card will look back at you and then just flip the sign, it's funny, not so hard for the kids to follow, and you can make it a running gag out of it, like trying to find the card, asking the kid if that's the card (on a wrong card) go behind him again and then pull the sign up again.

Also, this may not be magic, but you can go to one of those novelty stores, and buy a few funny gimmicks that really don't need any practice but will get a nice laugh and may be even considered by the kids for magic.

Good luck.

Well said iummydd.

If it is soon then please stick with what you already can do, because you need to practice through and through, a trick which isn't accompanied by some nice presentation isn't a 100% hit most of the times.

And maybe some tip, don't think that 'Those kids are young and they won't see me do it', because those kids are smarter than you think. Please practice and stick with what you have.

darrel wrote:Has it been advertised? If not please pull out now and explain that you are not ready to perform yet.