Children are fascinated by magic, but it’s even better when they can be magicians themselves.
Teach your little magician how to do magic right here. MomJunction has curated easy, simple and fun tricks for kids to learn and try.
1. The sugar cube magic
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Write a number on a sugar cube, melt it but save the number magically. This is Science. The graphite (carbon atoms) in the pencils transfer easily to the human skin.
You will need:
- A pencil
- Sugar cubes(use Imperial Sugar or Dixie Crystals)
- A glass of water
How to do the trick:
- Have someone from the audience pick a number from 1 to 10.
- Write that number on a sugar cube using a pencil.
- Pick up the sugar cube and squeeze it against your thumb, the number will get transferred on your thumb.
- Now drop the sugar cube in a cup of water and allow it to melt.
- Ask for your volunteer’s hand and press your thumb against his/her palm. The number will transfer to the palm.
- For a magical effect, ask him/her to wave their hand over the glass of water and see the number appear on their hands!
2. Levitating matchstick
Image: Shutterstock
Tell your audience you’re going to perform something incredible.
You will need:
- One matchbox
How to do the trick:
- Turn an empty matchbox upside down and poke the bottom of a matchstick through the middle of the matchbox. It will stick straight up from the center.
- Lean a second matchstick against the first one so that the tips are touching.
- Using a third matchstick, light the center of the leaning match.
- As the stick catches fire, the leaning match should start to rise upwards as if levitating.
- Blow the flame out and see the leaning match. It is still hanging mid-air.
How it works:
When the fire hits the head of the two matches, they burst into a high heat flame which fuses the heads together. Because of this fusion, the second match curls up like it is levitating.
3. Magic wand trick
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Show your audience your magic wand that can suspend in the air!
You will need:
- A piece of eraser
- A dark-colored (not clear) bottle with an opening fit for the wand
- A wand that is taller than the bottle (the outer end of the wand should stick out of the bottle)
How to do the trick:
- Before the performance, cut the eraser so that it perfectly fits into the mouth of the bottle.
- Ask a volunteer to examine the bottle is empty, and take it back.
(At this moment, you need to slip the eraser without anybody noticing it. This will require practice.) - Drop the wand into the bottle.
- Gently hold the wand and the bottle and turn them upside down slowly. While you perform this, say words of enchantment.
- Pull on the wand very gently to get the piece of eraser wedged on the opening of the bottle.
- Remove your hands from the wand. It won’t fall out of the bottle as the eraser acts as a stopper.
- You can remove the wand by giving it a slight push to release the rubber.
4. Find that magic card trick
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For this trick, ask someone from your audience to pick up one card and remember its color. You take the card back and shuffle it. But to everyone’s surprise, you can still find your volunteer’s card without even looking at it once.
You will need:
- A deck of cards.
How to do the trick:
- Before starting your performance, divide your cards into black and red. Remember which color you have placed on the top.
- Fan out a few of the cards from the top and ask someone from the audience to pick a card. Ask them to remember their card.
- Then, fan out the bottom of the deck to allow the person to put his/her card back in the deck.
- Split the deck, somewhere in between, and place the bottom half on the top of the deck to shuffle the cards. If the split isn’t exactly in the middle, it won’t matter.
- To find the card that was chosen, look through the deck. The color you are looking for should be the only red or black amongst all.
- Pull that card out and ask, “Is this your card?” and win over your audience.
5. Pepper and water magic trick
Image: iStock
This is an easy magic trick that doesn’t need much effort. When someone from the audience puts their fingers into the water to separate pepper, nothing happens. When you dip your hands, the pepper separates, and magic happens!
You will need:
- Water
- Soap
- A cup
- Pepper
How to do the trick:
- Before the performance, rub a regular soap on your fingers. This is the secret.
- As you dip your fingers into the cup, the soap will separate the pepper.
6. Bend a spoon magic trick
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With this simple magic trick, show your audience how you can magically bend a spoon using just your hands. It is typically an optical illusion.
You will need:
How to do the trick:
- Hold the handle of the spoon with both your hands as if you are putting pressure on the handle.
- Do not let the thumb wrap the handle.
- Place the tip of the bowl against the table and pretend to put immense pressure. Push the hands down so that your audience can see the pressure.
- Allow the spoon to fall on the table but cover it up with your hands so that the audience doesn’t see that happening.
- Now that your magic is established pretend to straighten the spoon. You can only run your hands over it and lift it up for your audience to witness the miracle.
7. Guessing age using a calculator
Image: iStock
This is a fun magician game for kids to try any day.
You will need:
- A calculator
How to do the trick:
- Ask the adult to hide the screen from everyone and punch in their age.
- Ask them to multiply the age by 2.
- Then add 1 to it.
- Multiply the result by 5.
- Multiply that number by 10.
- Ask the adult to write the answer down in a paper.
- Look at the number and ignore the last two digits. The number you are left with is the adult’s age.
8. Vanish the toothpick
Image: Shutterstock
You can tell your audience that you will take a toothpick in your hand and simply vanish it! You can master it with a little practice.
You will need:
- Clear tape and toothpick
How to do the trick:
- Take a small piece of tape and stick the toothpick on the nail of your thumb so that it can’t be seen from the front.
- Cover the tape while vertically holding the toothpick so that it looks like you’re just holding the toothpick in your hand.
- Say a magic word or do a hand movement.
- Now just remove the fingers from the tip and open your palm straight and the toothpick will not show.
- When you do it really fast, it will appear like vanishing.
9. Magic moving pencil
Image: iStock
Tell your audience that you can move a pencil without touching it once, but by using your mind power.
You will need:
- A light pencil and a flat surface
How to do the trick:
- Put the pencil on the table. Hover your hands some 20cm above it.
- Make a show of using your mind to move the pencil. Make it look challenging at first.
- Now, softly blow on the pencil (without making a blowing face); do it so secretly that no one can tell. The pencil will roll along.
- For that, talk and distract your audience so that they can’t understand you are blowing it. Talk about how you are using your mind while making dramatic faces. Or move your hands over the pencil while saying a magic word.
10. Guess which coin?
Image: iStock
For this trick, tell your audience to pick up one coin amongst many, and you will know the exact date written in that coin by reading the volunteer’s mind, without seeing which one they picked.
You will need:
- 5 to 6 coins all with different dates or years
How to do the trick:
- Keep all the coins on the table. Then, turn your back and ask a spectator to choose one coin from the pile.
- Tell them to remember the date and keep thinking about it while holding the coin tight in their palms.
- Then, let them put back the coin.
- Turn around to face your audience again and examine each coin by holding them separately.
- As you pick the coins, the one that feels the warmest is the coin touched. Remember the date on it.
- Then close your eyes and place your hand on your forehead as if you are trying to see something magically.
- Then say something like, “I see the year 2000” (or, whichever year). Show the right coin to the spectator.
11. Eleven fingers magic
Image: iStock
You will need:
- Tell your friends that you have 11 fingers and prove how.
How to do the trick:
- Using your right forefinger, touch each finger of your left hand and count loudly, “one, two, three, four, five.”
- Do the same with your left forefinger and the right-hand fingers, “six, seven, eight, nine, and ten.”
- Say something like, “Well, I’m sure I had 11 fingers. Let me try again.”
- Now start counting backward from the left hand, “ten, nine, eight, seven, six”.
- Move to the right hand, “six on that hand, and five fingers on this hand. Total 11”.
12. Which card did you pick?
Image: iStock
Counting in your head without making lip movements is all it takes to ace this trick.
You will need:
- A deck of cards
How to do the trick:
- Without moving your mouth, count 20 cards from the top of the pack and set them aside on the table in front of you. This is ‘pile 2’.
- The other pile left is ‘pile 1’.
- Offer pile 1 to the spectator. Ask him/her to pick any card and memorize it while you turn away. Take it back.
- Slip this card beneath pile2.
- Now, place pile 1 on top of pile 2.
- Turn the cards over to face you. Count from the back of the pile until you find the 21st card. That is your spectator’s card.
- Hold it and ask, “Is this your card?”
13. Pen through bill magic trick
Image: Shutterstock
Leave your audience awestruck with this trick.
You will need:
- A dollar bill
- A pen
- A paper
How to do this trick:
- Take a piece of paper that is the same width as the bill. Fold the paper in half.
- Take an exacto blade and cut a notch on the Federal Reserve logo.
- When you show your dollar bill to your spectators, make sure you are keeping your finger on top of the cut so that it hides your secret.
- Now, fold the dollar bill to half.
- Tuck the bill into the paper, and slide the pen into the fold and angle it slightly through the flap.
- Thrust the pen through the paper and show your audience how the paper has a hole but the dollar bill is intact.
14. My calculator can talk
Image: iStock
You can ask the calculator any question, and it will give you the answer.
You will need:
- A calculator
How to do this trick:
- Tell your friend that your calculator wants to talk to him/her. Tell them that the code numbers to start talking is: 0.7734.
- Now, turn your calculator upside down. It will say: HELLO
- Get your friend to ask these questions and show the answers of the calculator:
What is your name, calculator?
Type 7718 and turn it upside down. It will read: BILL
What’s your job, calculator?
Type 5508.918 and turn it upside down. It will read: BIG BOSS
How is the building where you work?
Type 4614. It will read: HIGH
Here are some tips you can follow:
- A decimal point will show a gap between words.
- If a word ends with O, add a decimal point after the O so that a gap is seen.
- Try these corresponding numbers and their letters to make new words:
H= 4, E= 3, L=7, I=1, O=0, B=8, G=9
15. Coin magic trick for kids
Image: iStock
This is one of the best magic tricks for kids. In this trick, you will make a coin disappear in front of your audience and stun them.
You will need:
- A long-sleeved t-shirt
- A coin
How to do the trick:
- Hold up the arm vertically, bent at the elbow like waving a ‘hello’.
- Place the coin into the sleeve carefully, so that it sits right at the elbow.
- You need to practice dropping your hand in a way that the coin slides out of the sleeves and you can catch it.
- Tell the audience that you can make a coin magically appear in your palm.
- Show them your empty palm first.
- Use your free hand to do some magic movements to distract others.
- As you do or say any magical term, drop your palm down facing backward and the coin will slip out of the sleeve right into the palm.
- Quickly grab it and show everyone the coin that appeared magically.
16. Mathematical magic trick
Image: iStock
You can impress your friends and family with your mathematical skills like never before, with this easy magic trick.
How to do the trick:
- Tell your audience to think of a number from 1 to 9. If you have an adult audience, give them bigger numbers.
- Your audience will not tell you the number they thought of.
- Ask them to multiply that number by 2.
- Then, multiply the result by 5.
- Now let them reveal the result of their multiplication.
- Drop the zero from that answer and tell them what their number was.
- For example: If the number is 5, your audience will do:
5*2=10, 10*5=50. From 50, drop the zero and the number is 5.
17. Breaking neck magic trick
Image: Shutterstock
You will show your audience how you just cracked your neck, by not really doing it.
You will need:
- A disposable plastic cup
How to do the trick:
- Place the cup right under your right arm and hold it there by lightly squeezing it.
- Don’t overdo or it will make some noise.
- Place your left hand on your neck and pretend to move the neck awkwardly.
- As you do this, squeeze your right bicep into your body. This pressure will crush the cup and make snapping sounds.
- Shake your neck slightly, and say something like, “Hmm! Now, that’s better.”
- It will look like you just cracked your neck.
18. Disappearing pencil
Image: Shutterstock
Show your audience a pencil, and then miraculously disappear it using basic magic tricks. This is a very easy magic trick for kids.
You will need:
- One pencil
- A table top
How to do the trick:
- Hold a pencil with both your hands.
- Let your audience hold it to know it is an ordinary pencil.
- While it is concealed behind your fingers, move it towards you and in one quick, subtle movement allow it to fall off the table into your lap or hide it into your arms.
- Keep your hands formed as if the pencil is still between them. Make a show of breaking or squashing the pencil.
19. Magic box trick
Image: iStock
Remember all the famous magicians with their magic boxes, miraculously pulling out things from an empty box? Yes, you can do this magic too.
You will need:
- Cardboard
- Tape (black or clear)
- Scissors
- Handkerchiefs
- Wrapping paper
- Black paper
How to do the trick:
- Using the scissors measure out and cut six squares of cardboard. Make each of them 4*4 inches or any other size.
- Glue the cardboard squares on a black paper and let them dry.
- Cut the squares out and trim any excess black paper from the corners.
- Keep only one cardboard square with both sides covered with black paper.
- Now, you will have 5 cardboard squares with one black side, and 1 square with both sides black.
- Using the tape, connect the four cardboard squares. Keep the black side of each square on the inside of the box that you’re making. For this, use the squares with one side black.
- Now, tape an edge of the cardboard square that has black on both sides somewhat off-center on the black side of the 5th cardboard square.
- The location should be on the shorter side of the square, and not in the larger section. Tape only one side to form the ‘hinge’. This is the secret compartment where you can hide your materials.
- This is going to be the bottom of the magic box. Tape the bottom of the box to the other four cardboard squares. The square that is black on both sides will be inside the box.
- Once you have done that, you should have a cardboard box that is black inside and has a black-hinged flap of cardboard that can move back and forth. This motion is going to open and close a secret compartment in the box.
- Use the gift wrap, paint or use stickers to decorate the outside of the box.
- Before you’re ready to perform, swing the flapped cardboard open and insert your objects inside. Close the flap and rotate it on the other way. Everything will be hidden effectively by the flap.
- Now you can show the empty box to your audience.
- To do the trick bring the box out and position your hand over the flap and then show the inside of the empty box.
- Keep the box down on a table. Make magical gestures and show your empty hands to your viewers.
- Place your hands into the box underneath the flap and pull out your magic objects.
20. The crayon trick
Image: iStock
This is one of the easiest sleights of hand magic tricks for kids.
You will need:
- A small box of crayons
How to do the trick:
- Stand with your back facing your spectator. Keep your hands behind your back and ask one of them to pick up a crayon and place it in your hands.
- Feel it in your fingers and turn to face the audience with your hands still behind you.
- Talk about the magic; as you do this, scrape the crayon with your right thumbnail to transfer some wax.
- Keeping the crayon behind your back in the left hand, distract your audience with your right hand by making magical hand gestures. Say something to the effect, “I am reading your mind”.
- Wave your hand in front of your eyes and take a glimpse of the color in your thumbnail.
- Reveal the answer with some effect.
These amazing magic tricks need no expertise. A little practice will ace your kid’s performance like a top-notch magician.
What is your kid’s favorite magic trick? Did you practice any of them before? Let us know in the comments section below.
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