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Billy Bo Special user 627 Posts |
Hey guys, I'm putting together an educational show for a nursery and primary school. If anyone could help with some ideas it would be much appreciated.
Please message me or E Mail at thegreatstevendoe@hotmail.com. Steve D |
John C Eternal Order I THINK therefore I wrote 12938 Posts |
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Lyndel Inner circle wrote the theme to the TV show COPS! 1623 Posts |
John's stuff looks like really solid material!
You may also want to check out a book titled "Safety Magic For Children" by Karl Wagner. It has some messages in it that are perfect for the nursery and primary school aged children. http://www.hanklee.org/xcart/product.php......p;page=1 You want to keep the messages pretty simple when performing for the VERY young kids. Keep it simple... They are just learning about colors and such, so any red, yellow, green prop could be used to illustrate a traffic light with safety messages about crossing the street, etc. Bicycle safety, stranger danger, and poison danger are also hot topics when performing for the very young set! Lyndel Lyndel |
Dynamike Eternal Order FullTimer 24148 Posts |
Check out the lines I use for my coloring book in one of my posts: http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=17
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Mumblemore Inner circle 1429 Posts |
John's stuff is really good. I have Standup George, Famous People, and Hemispheres and find each of them to be very clever tricks which engage kids and about famous people beyond just celebrities (he's got Amelia Earhart, Einstein and Washington Carver rather than just "red carpet" celebs (no offense to designers of tricks like this and Star Track, but they help reinforce the out-of-control show biz worship in the US). I think that along these lines and some suggested in the Math show and by great entertainers and teachers like David Ginn, you can teach and instill values, particularly making history "come alive" with stuff like Cestas, or by making up tricks forcing historical figures like those on the Explorers, Scientists, and Wild
West villains decks at http://www.newtscards.com/search_results......explorer I have a two-dimensional globe picture from an education supply store and am going to try to put it through the Rabbit Wringer to make it a globe and talk about the explorers. I'm trying to think of how to incorporate The Relic into the theme (beautiful pirate coin prop from Outlaw Effects). If anyone has any ideas about an "explorer" show, I'd love to hear them. Also, does anyone have some science ideas (if you do Newton's Nightmare, can it be educational without exposing the trick)? |
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I'm afraid I am going to have to be the jerk and ask the difficult questions..
1) Why do you want to educate kids? 2) What is your area of expertise that makes it possible to educate kids? 3) What are the educational needs of children that are not met by the school. These questions need to be answered before you start writing scripts, buying tricks or, heaven forbid, buying some of those terrible 'show in a box' acts. |
The Great Smartini Inner circle 2280 Posts |
I would encourage you to watch anything by Jim Kleefeld. Jim is a former school teacher/administrator who also, like myself, has a graduate degree in education. His DVDs are for inspirational purposes only and should provide you quite a bit of insight as to what a truly "educational show" should look and sound like. Good luck!
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WayneNZ Inner circle New Zealand 1013 Posts |
Check out the Greg Britt dvd.
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John C Eternal Order I THINK therefore I wrote 12938 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-09-03 02:28, Nicholas J. Johnson wrote: Hey, Nicholas, how many of those terrible 'show in a box' acts have you purchased? John |
Mumblemore Inner circle 1429 Posts |
I found some even better cards for history, science, natural history, written word (authors/women authors/etc.). They also have tarot cards with Egyptian, Chinese (Fen Shiui), and Leonardo da Vinci themes . . .
Check out:http://www.usgamesinc.com/home.php?cat=1 I ordered some, and will let people know how they are as educational props, with the idea that, as John Cesta has done with his Famous People (highly recommended) you research interesting facts about the people or natural history cards you are presenting, thus giving you chance to convey interesting facts before forcing one of the cards and doing the magic. David Ginn does a great job of this in his Wild West Animals in Kidbiz 2. |
The Great Smartini Inner circle 2280 Posts |
Quote:
On 2007-09-03 19:54, johncesta wrote: How else would Nicholas know how bad the "show in a box" acts are? Smartini |
NJJ Inner circle 6437 Posts |
I purchased three 'shows' from three different performers (who I will not mention here) in a moment of weakness. Two were awful and one was OK but so American in style that, whilst I tried to adapt it to an Australian audience, I ended up not using any of the ideas. (Don't worry, it wasn't you John!)
My real problem with these acts is that, for the most part, they deal in broad strokes, cliches, awkward metaphors and little to no educational content. I saw an act in which the magician tried to convince audience that they were each an animal in the jungle with a randomly selected key and only the butterfly (who used to be book worm) could open the door of potential to get the binoculars to see their bright future because they read....HUH? Even if they are any good, they are geared towards create cookie cutter magicians, performers who fail to create acts that suit their style and market. Imagine if Jerry Seinfeld sold his act for $300 for anyone to do. You'd have a bunch of unfunny Jerry Wannabes running doing his material badly and...oh wait...we already have that. Or imagine "Mac Beth In A Box" you get the script, set, costumes, make up, blocking all laid out for you and you just copy it. Would you want to see a play like that? Would you encourage children to see it? Hell no! They cry of "But these packages are just for INSPIRATION" usually comes now. But these packages are not sold as "inspiration for performers to create your own act" they are sold as an act that you can DO. Seriously Silly is a book that will inspire you to create and perform good children's magic. (not necessarily educational). You have a choice. You can be the carbon copy MacDonalds of a performer or you can be five star restaurant. One requires a little more work but the rewards are far greater. |
The Great Smartini Inner circle 2280 Posts |
Anyone considering purchasing one of these shows in a box should re-read the previous post again and again until they understand that presenting a top quality educational show takes much time and effort. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Smartini |
Kevin Mc Lean New user Kevin Mc Lean 57 Posts |
Hi All,
I tour with two shows for kindergartens and primary schools: one is based on health and the other is a safety show. They are approximately 40 minutes long and have photocopiable colouring sheets and decision charts with them for activities afterwards. The magic words that I get the children to shout out echo the theme eg. "fruit and vegies!". I do tricks with multiplying bananas etc. and link in with the curriculum. I think that patter and appropriate magic words can link a lot of tricks that you wouldn't necessarily associate with the subject. Childwise, try and limit yourself to three or so messages to the show and make sure there's heaps of fun and slapstick for that age group. To reply to Nicholas's question (which I think is important): I have qualifications in education and natural therapy and I try make the shows non-controversial. I feel that if the show is non controversial there is usually little concern about the qualifications of the person running the show: otherwise it could be a very sticky area. Hope this helps. |
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