This term's 4-7s theme, The Magician's Chamber, is an spellbinding adventure into Ancient Britain and, at half-term, thousands of children and parents enjoyed our West End musical,  Magical Merlin. I've always thought that performing magic links really well to Perform’s 4 Cs  so I spoke to our Magical Merlin's resident magic consultant Scott Penrose (who has previously worked with the likes of Daniel Radcliffe and Stephen Fry) and magical duo, Morgan & West, to see how they thought learning and performing magic could help children's development. 

1. Transferrable skills

“All of the ‘four Cs’ can be helped by learning magic. In fact the benefits can be more far-reaching. For example, studying magic through books dramatically improved my reading skills as a child. Magic also has made me very interested in science and engineering. The two great pioneers of Victorian magic, Robert-Houdin in Paris and John Nevil Maskelyne in London, were scientists at heart and embraced new technologies in their shows. That all aside, magic can be great fun. However, as a teenager, I did at times have too much fun with magic and had to reign it in a little to concentrate on my schoolwork!” Scott Penrose

2. Practice makes perfect!

“Learning magic can benefit imagination and enhance creativity. When learning some magic from a book or buying a prop from a magic shop and then reading the instructions, the magician has to add their own performance and presentational skills to that piece of magic to make it work. And the more magic you read or learn about, the more magic you'll create of your own.” Scott Penrose

“It's excellent to learn how to practise something until you can do it fluidly.” Morgan & West

3. Coordination

“It's great for coordination and for challenging your brain to think of several different things at once.” Morgan & West

4. Teamwork

“When doing magic you have to imagine what the other person is seeing and feeling. It's actually great for developing empathy and for finding other points of view as, without those, you can never really create a magic trick.” Morgan & West

“Magicians get into magic via all sorts of different routes and for differing reasons, however, I was very lucky as my Dad was a very gifted and knowledgeable amateur magician. So magic was always in the house while growing up. It was a team, with my Dad and I often working on ideas together. Working in theatre and collaborating with other skilled individuals such as writers, set designers and choreographers is the most interesting part. I am always learning.”  Scott Penrose

Find out more about Scott Penrose at www.stagemagician.com and Morgan & West at www.morganandwest.co.uk

Magic is a fun and engaging way to encourage confident communication amongst young people and I can see why magic, like drama, is so popular with children!