ALEX Toys Ideal Poof-Slinky Spectacular Magic Show Set, Multicolor

This was a Christmas gift for one of my 7-year old nieces. Yea, it's got a lot of little parts! So before letting them shred and spread parts all over the house, start with the DVD first! Her and I sat down and watched the DVD until a couple of the illusions caught her interest, and that's where we started. We worked on those two tricks first until she had them down. We'll continue learning new illusions as she masters the previous, all the while I explain to her the importance of not breaking or losing any of the pieces.The DVD is fun to watch and each trick is easily explained. The included props in the box are fairly well made and wonderfully detailed. The props are large enough to be shown to an audience, but small enough for smaller hands to master. The illusions themselves are quite convincing!At 7-years old, my niece still lacks the hand dexterity for perfect slight-of-hand which accidentally causes her to give away part of the secrets. She does practice and at each session improves a little more. However, I can see where a set like this would be way too much for my 4-year old to understand or even do. If your child is in that 7-year or older age, then this is a great item to buy and certainly worth the money.

This magic set has what any good magic set should: a full set of easy, simple and well-presented tricks. Beware of magic sets that are too "showy"---they usually contain a bunch of toy gimmicks that anyone can see through and lose their appeal quickly. This set has two classic tricks, the "Peter Rabbit" sponge bunny trick and the "Cups and balls" trick, both of which are simple and fun. The rest are well-designed, true magician's tricks that utilize props rather than toys. That is important, because they teach the two most valuable assets to a magician: showmanship and sleight-of-hand.Because the set inherently teaches those two things, a full book of tricks is included to expand on the principles the set demonstrates. While a lot of the tricks in the book aren't covered in the set's props, they use easy to get household items, with a few exceptions such as magician's wax. But between the props and the book, any magician, from beginner to amateur, will gain something from this set.I recommend it for ages 9 and up, for the patience required for the learning process.

I got this for my 8 year old grandson. In general, he's had some fun with it. There is a trick in the book and on the video where you make bunnies multiply. Unfortunately, the little spongy bunnies were missing from the kit. Also, since this kit is geared toward children, I think the fake thumb should be a child sized one, not a large adult size. The video was fun to watch and does help a lot in learning the tricks and how to interact with the audience as you perform your magic. The book included some pretty neat and simple tricks needing no special props at all. All in all, not a bad buy for the money.

We bought this toy for our 7-year-old son because we were trying to find an alternative to video games, legos, rescue heros, etc. This fit the bill perfectly.It is a basic magic kit complete with magic wand, props and both written and video instructions. The items themselves are not fragile but should be kept from younger brothers and sisters who could easily destroy them or lose the pieces.The DVD is key to having younger kids understand the tricks. The guy on the video is clear about how to do the tricks and it was much easier for my son to do the tricks once he had seen them on the video. He tried using the written instructions but definitely needed adult help with those.This is a great toy for developing some critical thinking skills and bringing out some early public speaking skills.We have had it for a week now and he has used it 3-4 times. I think over time it may be something that he pulls out once a month.Overall it was a great price to try something different than the usual.

With under a week's notice, I had to do some magic tricks at my daughter's 7th birthday party. Tough crowd. Decided to pick this affordable kit up on the hope that some tricks would round out daddy's card magic. While clearly designed for the junior magician, this was a really pleasant surprise. Best of all is the DVD which demonstrates each trick and then explains how they are pulled off. The magician's "thumb" is a bit small for an adult, and I wonder how small a hankie it would hide even for a kid, but that's a small quibble. The magic paint can and changing water from clear to blue (or whatever color you like) was a real crowd pleaser. Well worth the price.

This was purchased as a gift but appeared to be a great magic kit. The box is huge, so we were really sorry we didn't send it straight to the recipient. We had to spend a small fortune to ship it. The kit had lots of tricks in it, and looked like lots of fun! It appeared to be great for a beginner or someone who had some magic tricks, but wanted something to expand their collection. It is probably for kids about 10 years old and up.

This was another gift to our grandkids after coming back from Vegas. They watched the video and immediately started learning how to do tricks. My 4 year old grandson is a little too young to fully grasp the concepts of the magic tricks, but he did enjoy watching the others. They are all fascinated with magic and this is a great way to get started. They loved the magic wand and the props that came with it. The book and DVD are also great assets to the kit. Overall, the gift was a big hit, and has brought many hours of fun to the kids.

This magic set is really great. It includes a DVD that help your magician see the trick then break it apart to perform it. Most all you will need to perform the tricks is in the set however there are a few common household items that needed for some tricks suck as salt or a magic hanky (tissue). Overall I was pleasantly surprised as to how well my child was able to perform the tricks on the DVD and she has had a really good time performing magic shows for her siblings.