FOR THE KIDS : Magic in Store : Pharmacist combines science, tricks to teach children about the wonders of the modern world.

Need a pack of trick cards, a magic kit, an ant farm or maybe a microscope? How about a bottle of aspirin? There’s a place in Camarillo where you can get it all.

Paul Dwork is a pharmacist by profession, but his passions are magic and science. So it made sense to do the senseless a year ago. He enlarged his store, Charter Oak Pharmacy, to include Merlin’s Mystical Emporium, an extensive collection of magical doodads and science gizmos.

Dwork, who has been a pharmacist in the area for 15 years, is right at home on either side of the dual-purpose store. But his face lights up when he talks about getting kids interested in science, how things work and the wonder of magic.

“Kids are much smarter now than when we were growing up because they are exposed to so much more,” he said.

To further that knowledge, he is offering a series of Saturday clinics that will each explore some area of science or magic. The first clinic Jan. 26 will teach kids how to assemble a small robot from a kit.

The robot, called Mr. Peppy, is about 6 inches by 8 inches, fully assembled. It sits on three wheels, with a dome top covering the internal parts. When a nozzle-like sensor in the front comes in contact with a wall or hears a loud noise like a hand clap, it reverses its direction. Dwork calls it the “smash and bash” robot.

The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to noon at the store in the Camarillo Shopping Center. It will take that long to put the robot together, according to Dwork. The clinic is for kids 8 and older, and parents are encouraged to attend. The cost is $28, which includes the cost of the kit.

Building a robot exposes a child to the science of today, Dwork said.

“When we were kids, it was Erector sets with gears and wires,” said Dwork, who is 40. “Now we have remote-control televisions, car telephones. How do all these things work? When we open a garage door, why don’t all the garage doors open? Here, kids are exposed to how things operate.”

Dwork, who has four sons ranging from 3 to 10 years old, says he has always been interested in science. He learned some magic tricks from a roommate when he served in the Army 20 years ago. That simply whetted his appetite for more. Now he performs magic for groups and has appeared at the Encore Dinner Theatre in Ventura. His specialty is ropes and scarves.

In his magic he tries to tie in some aspect of science. It was this connection that led him a year ago to become the executive producer for a television pilot called “Merlin’s World.”

The show features the fictional magician Merlin, actually a modern-day wizard, his niece and assistant, a wise owl named Howl and a growling, snarling caged monster named Spike. With music and a lot of magical pizazz, the pilot provides explanations for such wonders as rainbows and gyroscopes.

“We rented a 10,000-square-foot warehouse in Camarillo and produced it,” Dwork said of his collaboration with fellow magician and producer Jay Scott Berry. They haven’t sold the pilot yet, but they are talking with various studios about it.

Dwork originally was to play the part of Merlin in the pilot, but he opted to let Berry take over the role while he made a cameo appearance as Mr. Bingle, the postman. There wasn’t enough time, he said, to run the pharmacy and play Merlin.

Combining his pharmacy with a science and magic emporium is a “pipe dream” for Dwork. While customers pick up prescriptions on one side of the store, professional and amateur magicians can pick up the tools of their trade--everything from sponge balls to scarves to special bags for that vanishing egg trick--on the other. Would-be scientists can find astronomy gear, magic rocks that grow in water and model kits of the human heart, as well as rocks, shells and fossils.

Meanwhile, Dwork’s dreams go on. He is talking about upcoming clinics, one with a marine biologist and another with an astronomer. He has plans for his own science fair this spring. Teachers would judge the works and the winners would get $100 savings bonds.

WHERE AND WHEN

The robotic clinic is offered Jan. 26 by Merlin’s Mystical Emporium, located in the Charter Oak Pharmacy, 350 N. Lantana St., in Paseo Camarillo Shopping Center. The clinic runs from 9 a.m. to noon and costs $28, including the robot. To sign up for the clinic, call the store, 388-7669.