Magic tricks for kids are a great way for parents and nannies to keep the family entertained. After all, who doesn’t love magic?
“When I perform for kids, I try to help them feel like adults, and when I perform for adults, I try to make them feel like kids,” says New York City magician Gary “Gary The Great” Ferrar. Magic tricks are fun, sure, but there’s even more to it. Magic is good for kids, asserts Nicholas “Magical Nick” Pugh, a Pennsylvania-based magician. “Learning magic tricks at a young age builds confidence and helps with social building skills, especially if the child tends to be a little shy,” he says.
Here are a few fun and easy magic tricks for kids to get your young magician started:
- Spoon Bending
The trick is all in the way you hold the spoon. You press down on the spoon while sliding your hand along the handle, which gives the illusion of the utensil bending. It takes some practice, but is one of the easier magic tricks for kids to master. Get the full directions at Udemy.
- Walk Through Paper
Kidzone has a printable template that allows your young magician to walk through a hole in a standard piece of paper. How is that possible? Why magic, of course! Well, magic and enough cuts to turn the piece of paper into something with a very large opening.
- Talking Magic Calculator
All your child needs is a calculator and a good memory. Your child will start by telling a friend the calculator wants to talk to them and that the code to get the conversation started is 0.7734. When the calculator is turned upside down with this number punched in, it looks as if the display says “HELLO.” Get more codes at Kidspot.
- Betcha Can’t Crack an Egg
Have your child challenge her friends to crack a raw egg with their bare hands. What your child will know is that an egg is actually pretty tough when squeezed with the hand. Its shape allows it to withstand pressure very well when applied all over. Funology recommends doing this trick over a sink, though, just in case someone is strong enough!
- Disappearing Water Trick
Your child will say a magic word of his choice over a cup of water, turn the cup over and only a chunk of ice will come out. Magic Tricks Reviewed explains the secret — a sponge wedged in the bottom of the glass absorbs the water. The ice cube is placed on top of the sponge.
- Levitating Card
Rebel Magic provides a free video tutorial to teach this easy card trick to beginners. It involves creating a special card using plastic and super glue. Your child will be able to make the card look like it has levitated off her palm into the air. Because a live audience will want to touch the card, this is a trick that is best performed over Skype for cousins or grandparents.
- Rubber Pencil
Positive Parenting shares this classic magic trick. By holding a regular pencil down by the eraser and shaking it at just the right speed, it appears to become made of bendable rubber instead of wood. This one doesn’t take any special skill, just a lot of practice to get the speed and technique just right.
- Disappearing Coin
Kidspot says a basic disappearing coin trick is a great starter to help your child develop the fine motor skills, discipline and confidence needed to perform magic. The trick is to get down a sleight of hand so that when the coin is dropped into the magician’s lap, the audience doesn’t notice.
- Rising Arm
Your child has a friend lean an arm against a wall for 30 to 60 seconds and says, “You will now slowly step away from the wall as I lift your arm with my mind.” According to Funology, the other child’s arm will automatically rise as they step away from the wall.
- Make an Egg Fit Through an Impossibly Small Hole
This activity is actually a science experiment from Science Sparks, but it looks like magic! It requires a cooled, peeled hard-boiled egg, a glass bottle with a hole a bit smaller than the egg, two matches and an adult assistant for lighting the matches.
Magic tricks are fun any time, but they’re especially great for engaging young minds during school breaks. Magic can be an extra special addition to Kids Activities.
NEXT UP: 101 Funny Jokes for Kids.
Rachael Moshman, who has her master’s degree in education, has loved watching kids explore magic, both as an early childhood educator and as a mom for decades.