Workshops – In Class or After School
“How did you do that?”
The most frequent response to a magic trick. Kids love learning, especially a new skill that some of their friends might not have, and Magic Peter’s workshops are the perfect place Key Stage 2 children to develop their talent. Welcome to the wonderful world of performing arts.
Believe it or not, many professional magicians took up magic not because they were born performers or extroverts but because they weren’t. Many lacked self-confidence. Many more were bullied. But learning a new skill and developing a new talent gave them the self-confidence to shine in a world where they otherwise might fade into the background.
Magic Peter knows this, because he was one of those children. And now he is passing on what he learned to another generation.
Peter has developed magic and balloon modelling workshops, each of which can be run in one of two ways: either as an in-class activity as part of the school’s curriculum for dramatic arts; or as an after-school club for those children who enjoy extra-curricular activities beyond the school day.
As an in-class workshop, you would book Peter for either a half-day or a full day, and he will work in as many classrooms as you want – he could spend half a day with just one class, or you could choose to share his time between three or four classes. The choice is yours – the longer he spends in each class, the more the children can learn.
Magic Peter’s after-school clubs run for one hour for up to 10 weeks each term. The club can either be financed through the school’s budget as part of its extracurricular activities, or it can be charged out to the parents as a ‘pay-to-play’ activity. Again, the choice is yours.
Magic Workshops
Magic Peter takes the group through the process of learning, practising, then presenting magic to each other and to the group. Many of the tricks taught use everyday objects so that they can make the props at home, and the secrets to all the tricks are easy to master. However, performing them as a feat of magic takes presentation skills, and these are taught during the sessions.
With great power comes great responsibility. As well as learning tricks, Peter teaches the importance of acting like a magician. Magicians respect each other, respect their audiences, respect the art of magic and respect the secrets they keep that maintain the mystery of magic.
The kids are encouraged to work in pairs to develop their team-working skills and to help each other mastering each new trick.
At the end of each in-class session, Magic Peter leaves the class with access to his online School of Magic where they can watch and learn 100 magic tricks like those shown here to amaze their friends and family.
The After-school Magic Club ends each term with the new magicians putting on a show for their parents to demonstrate their new skills, and they each receive a Certificate of Achievement at a passing out ceremony.
Balloon Workshops
Balloon modelling workshops are definitely a hands-on experience. You can’t learn to make balloon models without a balloon in your hands. Magic Peter takes the group through from the simplest of balloon models – the ever-popular sword – all the way through to wearable balloons like hats, with favourites such as flowers and dogs along the way. At the end of the session, the children will all have balloon models to take home and show their family.
Staged as an in-class activity, the class will be left with balloon pumps and balloons, as well as access to Magic Peter’s online balloon modelling lessons, so they can continue learning new designs after he has left.
At after-school balloon clubs, the group learns at least one new balloon model a week, and the students are encouraged to work in pairs to develop their team-working skills as well, helping each other to master the designs. Again, at the end of each session they will all have balloon models to take home to show their families.
Pricing
In-class Workshops
For workshops presented in classrooms during the school day, hire Magic Peter either for a day (09:00-15:00) or a half-day (09:00-12:00 or 12:00-15:00) to run the workshop in as many or as few classes as you choose. Obviously the more time he spends with each class, the more they’ll learn.
As well as the hands-on workhop, each class is provided with free and unlimited access to online video lessons from which they can learn more magic tricks or more balloon models after he has gone.
The cost of in-class magic workshops are £195 for a half-day booking and £345 for a full day booking (which includes the props and materials provided for the students and which they take home after the workshop).
The charges for in-class balloon workshops are £215 for a half-day and £355 for a full-day booking (which includes the cost of balloons and pumps used during the workshops and which are left with the classes when Magic Peter leaves).
After-school Clubs
Presenting the workshops as an after-school club, they run for one hour immediately after school finishes. A minimum of 10 weeks is recommended to allow the students to learn a significant number of new skills to demonstrate at the end-of-term show for their parents.
Experience has shown that limiting the clubs to a maximum of 10 students means that all the students get sufficient one-to-one help and tuition during the sessions.
The cost of the after-school workshops is £90 per week and can be paid for from the school’s budget or charged to the parents on a ‘pay-to-play’ basis. So a 10-week club would cost £900 or, for a club of 10 children, £9 per student per week. These costs include all the balloons or magic props the students use during the sessions, which they take home with them after the last club meeting. All club members are given free and unlimited access to online teaching videos so that they can learn more tricks or balloon models after the after-school club sessions have ended.
Further Details
This is just a brief overview of the workshops. You’ll get a much better understanding of how Magic Peter works and what the children can get out of the sessions by meeting Peter and talking through how the workshops might run in your school. Either call Peter on 07708 251312 or email him and he’ll be very happy to come in and discuss what he can do for you.
Please note that Magic Peter holds an enhanced DBS certificate for previous workshops presented in schools, but understands that you might want to request your own checks if you wish to employ him in an unsupervised role in your setting, and he’ll happily provide you with all the information you require.