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Has anyone had an experiences with teaching children magic, like the fun days and after school sessions. I have seen adverts from agencies wanting magicians to do this. Did you go through an agent or did you advertise on your own? If anyone can help then please let me know.

Back in 1980, I started a group called The Wiz Kids, Inc. which was incorporated as a non-profit corporation with the mission of working with under-privledged urban youth, and using Magic and the Circus Arts as a focus point for teaching them all kinds of skills. By 1991, former Wiz Kid members had become adults and took over running the corporation. Now they do everything and I get to play magic consultant and write books.

So to answer your question, no I did not go through an agency. I organized my own group and incorporated as a non-profit. The group became self-sustaining with members bringing in other members. By being a non-profit I was able to apply for grants, accept donations, and make the corporation pay for its own expenses. It's not the usual way these things are done, but it worked for me.

I've also done it and again didn't use agencies.

This is what i was thinking. I would get better money just putting a package together on my own. Thanks guys

Also bear in mind that working with youngsters can be fraught with problems, not the least of which is making sure you're vetted by the appropriate Authorities and therefore allowed to work with kids. You'll probably need a written Child Protection Policy statement on display and sufficient insurance cover and you'll certainly need another adult of the opposite sex to be with you at all times - this is for your own safety as well as for parents' reassurance. Not sure what else might be involved but the Citizen's Advice folks can probably tell you more.

It's a shame that all these things have to be involved and will take up time which could be devoted to tuition but that's the way of the modern world, unfortunately. Best of luck with the project anyway!

Luckily i have the paperwork from when i used to work in schools. I will check out this company offering work first and see what they do. Thanks for the good wishes guys.

Please keep us posted with progress, this sort of work with youngsters is sadly lacking in many parts of the UK and I'm quite convinced that it's one way of minimising the trouble-making element in current society. Hope it all works out for you

Will do, i need to try to set it up first, it may not work but worth a go

I have taught magic classes as afterschool programs and as a summer school class. Both single class and full summer long programs. In all cases I was contacted by the schools holding the classes directly, and they provided me with a budget per kid and an assistant.
If you are interested in doing this type of program, you could submit letters to schools telling them you experience and what you could provide.

Just noticed your signature

"I think David Blane is the best zero personality, no talent, self working magic trick guy in the business!"

I think it's wrong to slag other magicians without much better reason than this and if he is so cra* at magic and with no personality he must be even better than many admit at his marketing and clearly it must prove that marketing is more important than magic ability or even personality.

I agree on this, Blaine has inspired many young people to get interested in and take up magic, so this is a good thing.

Only slightly on the topic but I thought I would give a few tips. Some forum members know that I have been teaching an 8 year old mentalism tricks for a few months with a reasonable degree of sucess - I should mention that I am only a beginner myself.

This has taught me as much as it has taught her and I have a few general observations:

Firstly in these cynical days, even young children are not impressed by cups and balls and seem to want something more sophisticated. You are competing with Playstations, fast food and the Simpsons!

The first lesson was to teach her about misdirection and to keep going on about it. Once she saw how critical that was, she could tackle almost anything as her superior presentation skills would cover up any handling errors.

Keep a lot of variety in what you teach. Don't wait to perfect a trick before moving on. Children have a short attention span so move on and then come back to a trick another time.

To keep the interest up I tease her by doing a trick and refusing to show her how it works for a week or two.

Finally I get her to look for magic herself, she gets tricks off the internet and from friends so I am not considered the only source for her skills.

Best of luck

Roland

Well done Roland, sounds like your doing a good job.

One point I would differ on is your comment that young children don't like cups and balls. I used to sell magic and this was one of the items I'd dem to many many kids. It nearly always went down well across the ages, so I wouldn't write it off.

Cheers

I have a precocious eight year old who is teaching ME magic. Actually, he is teaching magic to a lot of other magicians through his book "Tear-Able Magic" on my Web site.

He started when he was about six years old, from watching his dad and Jim Gerrish's Wiz Kids at work and play. Now he is an honorary Wiz Kid (he can't officially join the group until he is ten years old) and goes to magic meetings with me and his dad.

The magic inventions he comes up with are astounding, but logical. When he sees a magician do a trick for the first time he works out his own way of doing it, which is often better than the original. His Ultimate Newspaper Tear is a good example. The newspaper is passed through the audience for someone to select a page, so you know it is unprepared at the start. Then when he restores the paper after tearing it up, it goes back to the person who handed it to him to put back in the full newspaper so he can return the newspaper to the "owner," so you know it is unprepared at the ending. It blew me away when I saw him perform it for adults and it is the main reason why I wanted to publish his book on my site.