There has been very little written about magic words. You know, the thing you say in order to make the magic happen. Harry Potter knows what I’m talking about. He uses magic words all the time. David Ginn wrote briefly about magic words in three of his books, most notably Kidbiz in 1982. It’s worth rereading, even though it was written more than 40 years ago.
First let’s talk about what magic words are not. Older kids, starting between 7 and 9 years old, think magic words are not real and that saying magic words is babyish. So starting in the older half of elementary school shows, don’t use magic words. In a family show or a library show, use your judgment based on the ages of the majority of the kids in the audience. If there are mostly older kids, don’t use magic words.