Strengthen motor skills and independence with magic tricks

Can practicing magic tricks help children with hemiplegia to improve their motor skills and become more independent in everyday life? ZDF and LMU Klinikum München are investigating this question in the new format "Magic Moves". The idea behind it: Ten children and young people with hemiparesis study magic tricks with the Ehrlich Brothers, Germany's most popular magicians, in a two-week intensive therapeutic camp to promote the use of their arms and hands. The LMU Klinikum München conceptualized the therapy concept together with partners and researched how it works. The episodes of "Magic Moves" will be broadcast on Saturdays on ZDF and Sundays on KiKa from November 30.

Up to two in 1,000 children in Germany suffer from hemiparesis, caused by a congenital or acquired brain disease. Earlier studies - particularly as part of the British Breathe Magic Intensive Therapy Program, which also included magic as a therapeutic approach - suggest that intensive, targeted training can (re)activate networks in the brain and thus improve arm-hand use.

Among other things, this assumption was the basis for the "Magic Moves" camp at Rabenstein Castle: ten children and young people with hemiparesis took part in the two-week intensive training program. The "Magic Moves" therapy concept combined four components: goal-oriented occupational therapy, personalized neurostimulation, therapeutically supervised group activities such as campfires, quad ball games and magic dinners, as well as tailor-made magic training developed with professional magicians.

Magic for therapy

During the magic training, the Ehrlich Brothers and their magician colleagues, together with the team of therapists, taught the children rubber band, rope and card tricks. These tricks require precise movements and encourage the use of both hands. "At some point, the children were at a point where they didn't even realize how intensively they were using their paralyzed hand," says Chris Ehrlich.

For the goal-oriented therapy at the Magic Moves camp, the children each chose three activities that are a challenge for them in everyday life due to their hemiparesis - and practised these together with the team of therapists: for example, tying shoes, zipping up zippers or tying a ponytail. Building on their progress, the children then rehearsed magic tricks for the final show - and also developed their self-confidence when performing in front of an audience.

Magic meets medicine and science

"All the children have surpassed themselves incredibly in these two weeks," says Dr. Michaela Bonfert from the Integrated Social Pediatric Center at Dr. von Hauner Children's Hospital (iSPZ Hauner MUC), who manages the project together with her colleagues Dr. Alexandra Sitzberger and Maike Marx. "As a medical-therapeutic team, we are incredibly proud of the children and what they have achieved in such a short time!" They developed the therapy concept together with Sebastian Schröder, Medical Director of the Maulbronn Children's Center and Steffen Berweck, Chief Physician of the Specialist Center for Pediatric Neurology, Neuro-Rehabilitation and Epileptology at the Schön Klinik Vogtareuth. A team of 36 doctors, occupational therapists, physiotherapists and researchers supported the Magic Moves project.

"The combination of therapy focusing on everyday goals, neurostimulation and spell training is a novel approach that both increases the children's motivation and can promote their motor skills and thus their independence and participation," says Dr. Alexandra Sitzberger. "We want to investigate what influence the therapeutic concept has on arm-hand function and psychological aspects such as self-esteem and quality of life." In cooperation with the Klinikum rechts der Isar, the researchers are also using imaging techniques (MRI/ magnetic resonance imaging) to check whether the improvements achieved by the camp are also reflected in the brain. In addition to the modern therapeutic approach, "Magic Moves" also enables contemporary research for children.

First scientific results will be available at the end of the year

The results of this study could provide new impetus for timely treatment concepts for children and adolescents with hemiparesis. Data analysis is currently underway and Michaela Bonfert and her colleagues will be able to present the first summarized results at the end of the year. "We can already say that the children have benefited from the camp both in terms of the use of the affected hand in everyday life and in terms of their independence and self-confidence," says Maike Marx, giving an initial outlook.

This was also evident at the big magic show with the Ehrlich Brothers at the end of the camp, where the ten children showed everything they had learned on a large stage in front of almost 500 guests. And it wasn't just the audience that was moved: "For us, magic is the most beautiful form of entertainment in the world. But to experience what magic can do therapeutically is incredibly impressive, it gives me goosebumps again," says Andreas Ehrlich. "Maybe that was even the greatest trick of our lives."

ZDF will show “Magic Moves” every Saturday at 7:25 p.m. from November 30, 2024. A version adapted for children will be shown on KiKA on Sundays at 2:40 p.m. from December 1, 2024.