Magic Tricks
Amaze your kids
with magic
tricks. K-2 will be intrigued.
From Family
Fun
October 2002
The
Haunted Quarter
Tell your
audience that you
can make the falling coins land as you wish.
Stack the coins in a sandwich with a nickel between two quarters. Hold the stack between your fingertips,
about 10 inches above your other hand.
Explain that when you release the two bottom coins, they will
magically
change position in midair before falling into your palm, making the
quarter
land last. Utter this incantation: “Mumbo-jumbo, pudding pop, make this
quarter
land on top!”
Finally, count
to
three. Keep hold of the top quarter as
you release the two other coins. They
should fall into your palm with the nickel beneath the quarter.
From Family
Fun March
2003
Amaze your
audience with the
divining power of your fingertips. Have
the group choose a number between 1 and 5 while you’re out of the
room. When you return, move from one
person to the
next, placing your fingers on their temples and reading their minds. Announce the number. The
secret:
When you get to your assistant (the teacher?), she/he subtly
clenches
her/his teeth the chosen number of times, which you’ll feel in
her/his temples.
From Family
Fun March
2003
In this trick,
time really
is money. Ask someone to choose 1 of 4
coins (a penny, a nickel, a dime, and a quarter) while your back is
turned. Have your assistant cover the
selected coin with an inverted coffee mug and remove the other 3. Now turn around and announce the covered
coin. The Secret: Ahead
of time, instruct your assistant
(again, the teacher) to place the mug so that its handle indicates the
coin
underneath. 12 if it’s a penny, 3
for a
nickel, 6 for a dime, and 9 if it’s a quarter.
Just make sure you agree which way the “clock” is
facing!
From Family
Fun April
2004
Place 3
identical blank
pieces of paper on a table. Turn to a
member of your audience and say, “Think of somebody’s name,
but don’t say it
aloud. I’m going to read your mind
and
write down the name.” Write on a
piece
of paper and, without letting anyone see what you’ve written,
fold the paper,
then instruct the thinker to say the name aloud. Now
repeat the process with a number – an audience member thinks,
you write, then the thinker reveals the number – and finally with
a color,
telling the thinker to choose either red or green.
Now give the 3 papers to an audience member to read aloud. Your friends will be awed by your psychic
abilities! How it’s done: When you pick up the first piece of paper,
don’t write down a
name, as the audience assumes you are.
Instead, write either “red” or “green.”
When you pick up the second piece of paper, don’t write a
number; write
the name that the audience member just revealed. Lastly,
on the third piece, write down the number that was just
revealed. If you follow this technique,
you’ll get 2 our of 3 predictions right every time, and all 3
half of the
time. Either way, you’ll look
seriously
cool.