🦕 Now booking 2026 & 2027 · 2026 CSLP theme: "Unearth a Story" · 2027 theme: "Mysteries Await at Your Library" →
Summer Reading Program
Every kid leaves knowing a real magic trick — and the confidence to perform it.
Kids learning magic tricks at library workshop — Joe coaching
Program overview
Kids become magicians in this exciting, interactive workshop! Participants learn easy, age-appropriate magic tricks using everyday objects while exploring the secrets of presentation, confidence, and creativity. By the end of the session, they'll have tricks they can perform for friends and family — and the confidence to share them!
This program is a librarian favorite because it builds confidence in public speaking and performance — skills that connect directly to reading aloud, storytelling, and creative writing.
What happens
Joe opens with a trick — something visual and impossible-looking. Then he tells the room: they're going to learn it. The energy shifts immediately. Kids aren't here to watch; they're here to become magicians.
Trick #1 is deliberately achievable — a simple card or coin trick that every kid can master in a few minutes. Joe walks through it step by step, then kids practice on each other. The room fills with laughter, mishaps, and small victories.
Joe then demonstrates a harder trick as a challenge and inspiration. Then comes the performance round: volunteers perform for the group — first nervous, then proud. Kids leave knowing one or two real tricks that actually work, with the muscle memory to pull them off.
Educational connections
Learning a magic trick is structurally similar to learning to tell a story — there's a setup, a build, a reveal. Both require sequencing, attention to your audience, and the confidence to perform. The Magic Workshop builds all of these.
2027 Preview: For "Mysteries Await," kids train as detective magicians — learning tricks themed around clues, misdirection, and the art of the reveal. See 2027 programming →
Show details
Note: Workshop format works best with groups of 40 or fewer. For larger audiences, consider the Magic Show instead.
What librarians say
"Our summer reading kids were so proud to go home with a real magic trick. Several came back to the library the next week asking for books about magic."— Youth Services Librarian, Oklahoma
"The Magic Workshop is the only program we've run where kids were still talking about it three weeks later. Real confidence builder."— Children's Librarian, Oklahoma
Photo gallery
Kids practicing magic tricks at library workshop
Child's hands performing card trick learned at workshop
Kids smiling after successfully performing their tricks
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