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Welcome to our “Secrets of the Wand – A Magical Magicians Week” – an at home week filled with days of relaxed learning and fun activities all themed to oh-so-mesmerizing magicians!!! While we definitely carved out some time to become master magicians, this week was more focused on the history of magic and some famous magicians! And in addition to learning all about the history of magic and about some groundbreaking magicians, we also conjured up some crafts and created our own magical stories!
For our third day, we learned about the ‘father or modern magic’ – Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, not to be confused with Houdini! This magician transformed magic into a theatrical event, similar to what we know and love as magic shows today! Read on to check out a fun filled day of learning, reading, crafts, and activities all themed to the magician Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin!!
A TYPICAL DAY
All kids are different and you can definitely vary your day with whatever works for you 🙂 Our relaxed & learning fun day kicks off with an introduction to the day’s theme. Then, we move onto videos and themed activities (reading, writing – or story telling – time, crafts, food crafts/snacks, and games or experiments). Feel free to pick and choose whatever works for you 🙂
INTRO
If you’re like our family, we did not know much about this magician, though we did learn that Houdini styled his name after this ground breaking magician! Our day was filled with getting to know some facts and learning about his life and his move into the magic world.
If you aren’t familiar with Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin, these sites are great introductions with interesting facts, images, and related content! They’re perfect for providing a brief intro for your little ones (or to gather up some knowledge as well!)!
WHAT TO WATCH
We find that mixing in a short video themed to our day is a great way to add some learning fun! We try to pick informative videos OR mix in a cartoon favorite (where they don’t even realize they’re learning). Below are some of the videos we picked from for the day:
- The Magic & History Of Robert Houdin! #153 by The Magic Guys
- The Magic of Robert Houdin by Magic Tricks for Kids
FOOD CRAFTS / SNACKS
What’s more fun than taking a break and having a simple snack??? Including the snack in your theme of the day! We find that our kiddos are more than happy to eat the snacks they create especially when they can arrange them into fun shapes and scenes!
In honor of Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin’s Pastrycook of Palais Royale Trick, we created rolls (though not brioche rolls), and read through more of his famous acts!
READING
It’s no secret that reading is an important part of learning, which is why we pick out a handful of books that are fun and filled with some learning tidbits. For our older ones, we have them fill out some worksheets (or let them create some of their own comics) to describe what they read and/or learned! These are a few we picked from for the day:
- Marvelous Magicians by Lydia Corry
- The Secrets of Conjuring and Magic: Or How to Become a Wizard by Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin. Robert-Houdin wrote a handful of books. It’s great to view but younger kids will need help & guidance on which pages to read through.
WRITING & WRITING PROMPTS
Just like reading, writing is a great way to keep kids learning by both encouraging their creativity and thought process as well as helping them practice their motor skills and penmanship.
If you’ve got a little one, have them trace words related to the theme: MAGIC, MAGICIANS, ILLUSION, JEAN EUGENE ROBERT-HOUDIN
If you’ve got older children, have them write a sentence or two up to a page or two (depending on their age). Encourage them to be creative AND give reasons for why they made certain choices. This was our writing prompt of the day (and we offered up some examples as well) but definitely pick something your kiddo might be interested in writing about!
- Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin is largely considered the ‘father of modern magic’ because he turned magic into a theatrical event. Imagine you were a founding magician. Draw a flyer that you would post to showcase your first magic show! What are you going to perform?
- Imagine being an apprentice to Jean Eugene Robert-Houdin. Write a short story about helping Robert-Houdin get ready for a big show where things are going completely wrong! How do you get through the acts?
CREATE & CRAFT
If you’ve got a crafty little one, a simple craft is a great way to keep them interested in the topic. While their creative juices are flowing, you can also chat about what they’ve learned so far or ask them what else they’re excited about learning! Below are some of the crafts we looked at:
STEM & STEAM ACTIVITIES
While crafting and writing get their creativity and imagination flowing, we also like to add in an activity that gets them thinking along the lines of science, technology, engineering, or math! These engaging activities or experiments are a great way to keep them learning!
For our team portion of the day for this week, we let our kiddos pick one or two experiments in the NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC Science Magic Kit. Any trick they wanted to ‘perfect’, they could add into their end of week magic show!
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for checking out our at home learning fun article! If you enjoyed this post, please let us know what you think in the comments below and/or follow us on Pinterest
Also, if you haven’t already, check out some of our other Magic Ideas days as well as our DIY At Home Camps!
Happy Learning!
MORE MAGICAL FUN!
Check out our Magical Magician Party
The Ultimate Magical Magician Treasure Hunt
MAGIC IN MINUTES: EASY & BUDGET-FRIENDLY MAGICAL CRAFTS!
Magician’s Wand, Magician’s Hat Pencil Holder, Magician’s Snack Cup
A COLLECTION OF HARRY POTTER PARTIES
An Intro into the Wizarding World Party.
An Intro into the Wizarding World Party
Day in the Life of a Hogwarts Student Harry Potter Party!
