There are so many after-school activities for kids to choose from, from sports to theater to music. But there is one that often gets lost in the mix: magic.

Despite being widely thought of just a hobby or pastime, magic is actually considered a specialized performance art.

“It’s like learning any other art,” says local Pittsburgh magician Michael Mykita. “Whether they were learning a musical instrument or dance or painting or drawing. It is a way of expressing yourself and bringing enjoyment to others.”

While your child probably won’t be the next Houdini or Criss Angel, learning magic has a lot of benefits. Just as learning to play the piano can teach creativity, acting can teach confidence and soccer can teach teamwork, learning magic teaches different skills that help kids grow into well-rounded people.

“There are a lot of side benefits that are not always obvious,” Mykita says. “I hear it all the time about sports. People say, ‘Well, it’s not just about leaning how to throw a ball and catch it, it’s about teamwork and everybody playing their part.”

Don’t Be Fooled

Mykita emphasizes that magic isn’t about fooling someone but about entertaining them with an illusion.

Mykita is the leader of the Society of American Magician Youth #152, the national organization’s only chapter in Pittsburgh. Once a month for 90 minutes, he meets with his students, beginning each session with a magician’s pledge.

“I think one of the misconceptions is that we’re teaching them to be little con artists,” he says. “We’re not. We’re teaching them to be entertainers and to give a gift to other people.”

It’s widely known that magicians never reveal their secrets, but Mykita says it’s not because they are trying to deceive people.

“Honestly, knowing the secret of a trick kind of ruins the trick,” he says.

Mykita says one of his students likes doing magic because she likes watching someone else’s eyes go wide and their smile stretch across their face. “They don’t feel fooled; they feel surprised. They feel wonder.”

“Not every trick involves sleight of hand, as people would think,” Mykita says. “But there [is] also always some sort of secret that you’re mentally keeping track of while you’re talking to people, and that’s the other part of it, is the public speaking aspect of it.”

As magicians, kids are able to develop their public speaking skills. Mykita shares that one of his students, who was extremely quiet, is most talkative when he is asked to show a magic trick.

Developing Key Skills

Above all, families considering magic as an extracurricular for their kids can expect a variety of educational benefits, including development of coordination, comprehension and math.

Most beginner magicians start by learning to shuffle a deck of cards. A deck of Bicycle cards is given to every kid who signs up for Mykita’s class. With most tricks, kids improve their hand-eye coordination.

The Society of American Magician Youth also takes kids through a book about magic, which improves kids’ reading comprehension skills.

“I show them things, and I reference [a magic book],” he explains. “It’s got them reading, it’s got them comprehending things and just making connections that they wouldn’t make.”

Mykita says it’s important that kids practice on their own. “I need them to spend the rest of their month, minus the 90 minutes with me, finding time to go to that book and [practice] with it.”

Though Mykita’s program is for elementary-age and older children, he says kids can begin learning through magic at home even earlier.

“Some tricks just work on simple math principles,” he says. “It is very easy to start learning. How difficult you want to get just depends on your level of interest and commitment. You don’t have to be David Blaine or Penn and Teller up on stage sawing a woman in half … The gamut is there.”

The Society of American Magician Youth #152 holds classes for ages 7 to 17. To learn more, visit magicsam.com/page/SAMYouthProgram and search local chapters.