Magic clubs for kids, and a school magic club kit
After the Magic Shop, a child keeps going in a club. Below are the youth clubs run by magicians' societies, and a six-session club any teacher, librarian or parent can run with the shop's free tricks and nothing to buy.
How children join a magic club
Most youth clubs are run by local groups of adult magicians and need a grown-up to sign the child up. Ages and fees are as each club listed them when we read their pages on 30 October 2026; check the club's own page before joining.
- S.A.M. Youth: The Society of American Magicians' youth membership (USA). Ages 7 to 17; about $20 a year online, as listed. Local assemblies meet monthly with vetted adult members; where none is near, an online assembly.
- I.B.M. Youth: The International Brotherhood of Magicians' youth membership. Ages 7 to 17; its online club is 12 to 21; set by the society, plus local dues. Local groups called Rings, and a monthly online club for older children.
- The Young Magicians Club: The Magic Circle's club for young members (UK). Ages 10 to 18; a joining fee and a yearly fee, as listed. Monthly workshops in London and on Zoom, a magazine, and competitions.
- Your public library: Many libraries run free magic workshops, often in the summer. Ages often 7 to 12; usually free, with a sign-up. Ask at the children's desk or look at the library's events page.
The online hobby itself (forums, chat servers, social groups) is for 13 and up and often adults only, so for a younger child a club with adult leaders, a library workshop or a school club is the safe way to meet other young magicians.
School magic club ideas: six sessions
Each session is about 45 minutes: one trick everyone learns, one performing skill from Magic School, and a few minutes of performing for each other. Everything uses things already in a classroom or a kitchen. The last session is a show.
Session 1: A name and a first trick
Trick: The Rubber Pencil · Skill: Your magician name
- Each child picks a stage name with the magician name generator (three taps, nothing typed).
- Teach the Rubber Pencil together; everyone does it for a partner.
- Finish: each child says their stage name and does the trick once.
Session 2: Card magic and helpers
Trick: The Magic Mind Reader · Skill: Working with helpers
- Teach the Key Card Trick in pairs, one deck between two.
- Practise asking for a helper: "Can I have a helper? What's your name?"
- Finish: three children perform for the group with a helper.
Session 3: Mind reading for a whole room
Trick: The Answer Is Always 3 · Skill: Patter: what you say
- Perform The Answer Is Always 3 to the whole group, then teach it.
- Each child writes one line of patter on a card (it stays with them).
- Finish: the group works out why it always works.
Session 4: Science that looks like magic
Trick: Pepper Scatter · Skill: Patter: what you say
- Set out bowls of water, pepper and washing-up liquid (food-safe; nothing is drunk).
- Do the trick first, explain the science second.
- Finish: each child explains it to a partner in their own words.
Session 5: Rehearsal and what to do when it goes wrong
Trick: Which Hand? · Skill: Outs: when things go wrong
- Teach Which Hand? and the out for a wrong guess.
- Each child picks four tricks for the club show and puts them in order with the show card.
- Rehearse in pairs: one performs, one is the audience.
Session 6: The club show
Trick: Walk Through a Paper · Skill: The big finish
- Hand out the tickets from the show kit to families or another class.
- Each child does one or two tricks; end with Walk Through a Paper as the group's closer.
- Finish: the bow, and Magic School diplomas for anyone who finished the path.
What the club needs
A deck of cards for every two children, pencils and paper, a few coins, bowls of water for session four, and the printables: tickets and a show card, trick cards by shelf, and the Magic School path for children who want to carry on at home. Nothing a child types on Peabody leaves their device, and the club needs no accounts. The safety rules for every trick are on the grown-ups' page.