22 Easy Yet Amazing Magic Tricks With Cards For Kids

Image: ShutterStock

Magic tricks with cards can fascinate children. However, a card trick requires thorough preparation and speed of hand. If your child is curious about learning magic tricks, we bring you some tricks in this post. They are easy and require no props other than the cards. Besides entertaining, these tricks can help your little ones improve their memory, creativity, and astuteness. All you need to learn these tricks is a deck of cards and a curious audience.
You can engage in this art of deception by conjuring and creating illusions with these card tricks. With time and practice, you can even showcase your mastery of card manipulation by executing card control techniques like card fanning, card palming, and card spreading. So keep reading for some easy and engaging card tricks that will bring out the magician in your child.

In This Article

Benefits of Learning Card Tricks

Research indicates that learning magic tricks can aid children’s physical and mental development. It helps improve their hand movements, boosts their confidence, and strengthens their social skills. It also enhances their creativity and focus and develops their problem-solving skills (1).

Easy Magic Tricks With Cards For Kids

1. Is this your card?

Flip the deck of the cards and memorize the card at the bottom.

Image: IStock

Select a member from the audience for card shuffling

Fan the entire deck with face-up cards to show the full deck is mixed. Flip the deck of the cards, face down, and memorize the card at the bottom.

Ask the audience member to split the full deck into two and keep one half on the table and hold on to the other half.

Ask them to select the top card from their half and remember it.

After they’ve memorized it, ask them to keep their card face down on the deck that’s on the table, then keep the remaining deck (the one with your card) on top of that.

While they continue to think of the cards, you grab the full deck and begin mind reading.

Begin to deal the cards from the top of the deck facing up. Pause every now and then for dramatic effect.

Soon, you’ll reach the card you memorized, the very next card is the one your audience member has on their mind. Finish with a magical gesture to reveal the card!

Quick tip

Interesting books on the subject of showmanship and magic can help your child learn one of the most crucial tricks of the trade — presentation.

2. The counting cards mind-reading trick

Have an audience member shuffle your entire deck of cards.

Fan the entire deck with face-up cards to show the full deck is mixed. While you do this, you need to memorize the card at the bottom. The bottom is one that’s at the bottom when you flip the deck back over.

Ask the audience member to pick a number between one and ten.

Assuming they choose five, demonstrate to them that they have to deal those many cards on the table. While you demonstrate, you’re secretly placing those five cards, exactly five cards down from the top.

Now keep the dealt cards back on to the top of the deck and give it to your audience member. Ask them to deal the cards and then remember the final card, the fifth card in this example.

Now, you can reveal their card with any dramatic effect you choose.

3. Teleporting playing card trick

What you need:

A full deck of cards, double-sided tape, one additional card from a matching deck, and an envelope

Take one card from the full deck you’re using and the same card from the second deck of matching cards, say the Jack of Hearts.

Put one Jack of Hearts in a sealed envelope.

On the other Jack, take a tiny piece of double-sided tape and stick it in the middle of the card and keep the card face-down on the top of the deck.

Take the envelope and give it to an audience member to hold until you need it.

Next, tell your audience you’ll attempt to teleport the Jack of Hearts from your hand to the envelope. While you explain this, separate the Jack from the card to which it’s stuck. Mask any sound with your words.

First, display the card to your audience, then place the Jack of hearts back on top of the deck and make sure the card securely sticks to the one under it.

Cut the decks to pretend you’re shuffling and place the Jack of Hearts somewhere in between.

Show off your teleportation skills with dramatic effect before you flip over the deck and fan it out face up. You cannot see the Jack of Hearts as it’s stuck to the card under it.

Ask the person who has the envelope to open it and reveal the teleported Jack of Hearts.

4. Four aces simple magic trick

First, prepare your pack of cards. Separate the four aces from the entire deck. Place them on top of the deck.

Now it’s time to call in your audience.

Cut the full deck into two and place the two halves separately on the table. Remember to keep an eye on which half the aces are in.

It’s best to put the pile with the aces on top on your far right.

Cut the card into two more halves; you will now have a total of four halves. Ensure the pile with the aces is the rightmost one.

Starting from the left, pick up the first pile. Take the top three cards and place them at the bottom of the pile. From the pile in your hand, take one card each and place them along the top of the other three decks on the table.

Repeat the same with the other piles.

Now for the grand finale, make your cards face up. If you’ve done it correctly, you should have four aces along the top.

5. The spelling card trick

Use an ordinary deck of cards and allow an audience member to freely pick one card and show the card to everyone around. At this time, you look away.

While the audience member shows the card around, take a quick glance at the bottom card from the deck in your hands, and memorize it. This will be the ’special card’ that you’ll use to find the card the audience member chose.

Let’s assume the bottom card is the Queen of Hearts, and the audience member picked the eight of spades. Remember, this is just an example. In reality, you will not know the audience member’s card.

When the audience member returns the card, ensure your ’special card,’ the one you memorized, is on top of the audience member’s card.

You can do this in two ways, either have your audience member return the card to the top of the deck and then cut the deck, so your ’special card’ is on top of the audience member’s card, or learn how to do the swivel cut or pivot cut.

To really sell the effect, you can add a false cut to mix the cards.

It’s better to ensure the audience member’s card is in the lower half of the deck so you can spell a card with lots of letters.

To spell the card, spread them out face up. Look for your ’special card,’ which is alongside the audience member’s card. Starting with your ’special card,’ spell out the letters of your audience member’s card where one letter is one card.

When you get to the last letter, cut the deck.

Ask the audience member to name their card.

Now, deal the cards one by one as you spell the letters of their card. When you reach the last letter, turn the card over, and it should be the audience member’s card.

6. Sleight of hand card trick

Use an ordinary deck of cards, shuffle it, and allow an audience member to pick one card.

Ask them to split the deck and put the card face-down on top of the pile.

The key is to take a quick glance at their card.

For some dramatic effect, shuffle the pack without losing the card you are watching.

Now deal the cards one after the other.

When you arrive at the card which the audience member picked, go past it as you missed it, then come back to it for the grand reveal.

Did you know?

Magicians usually mark, crease, or bend particular cards to identify them easily during a trick.

7. The reversed card trick

Spread the cards out and ask a member to pick one.

Image: IStock

To start with, you have to turn the bottom card of the deck over secretly. Now, spread the cards out and ask an audience member to pick one. Make sure the cards towards the end aren’t too spread out. This will accidentally reveal the face-up bottom card.

After the audience member picks one card, collect all the remaining cards in your left hand.

While the audience member is looking at the card they picked, you need to turn your left hand over without drawing any attention secretly. To do this naturally, you can drop your left hand casually to your side and turn it over.

Now, except for the top card, which is face down, the rest of the deck in your left hand is face up. This one top card that’s face down will make the entire deck look like it’s face-down.

Ask the audience member to place the card anywhere in the middle. You need to be careful not to let the upside-down cards show. Besides the top card, they’re actually placing face down in a face-up deck.

Now tell the audience member you’re going to look for their card, and to make it harder, you’re going to do it behind your back.

While the deck is behind your back, tell the audience member that you’re going to take out just one card, and turn it upside down.

All you have to do is turn the top card over. Now, the only reversed card in the entire deck is theirs.

Bring the full deck forward and spread them out.

It will reveal that their chosen card is the only one that’s upside down.

While it is one of the simple card tricks, you need to practice and perform convincingly.

8. Guess the bottom card

Begin by looking at the bottom card and memorize it.

Start by dropping cards from your right hand to the left hand or on the table and ask them to say ’stop’ when they want. When they say ’stop,’ handover the selected card and ask them to memorize it.

Now put the cards you have back together and then ask them to put their card on the top. This makes the bottom card that you memorized go on top of their selected card.

Now look through the entire deck, and you’ll find their selected card in front of the bottom card you memorized

9. Float and spin a playing card in midair

Start by attaching a bit of thread to the center back of a playing card with clear tape.

Run the other end of the thread between your hand, then securely fasten it on your belt buckle, your shirt’s button, or anywhere else on your body.

Play with the length. Essentially, the length needs to be fairly pulled back when you stretch your arm in front of your body with sufficient space for the card to hang about 12 inches below your hand.

Take the thread and stretch so that it goes from in between your first and second finger, all the way to the card.

If you’re left-handed, run the thread on your right hand and vice versa.

When you’re ready to perform, take the card and mirror the motion of launching a frisbee. Basically, you have to bend the wrist inwards of the hand with the card. When you pretend to throw, the card will spin on its axis thanks to the thread.

It will appear like the card is floating under your arm.

To make the card levitate, just move your hand away from your body. When the thread tightens, the card will rise to your hand. When the spin of the card reduces, catch it. Show the audience member the front of the card as the back has the thread and tape.

One tip is to ensure the audience stands slightly far away so they cannot see the thread.

10. Elmsley Count card trick

Typically, the Elmsley Count is done with four cards. Once you learn with four cards, you can progress.

Begin by hiding the selected card you want in the third position

Let’s assume you want to hide the card face up, then the order of your cards will be something like, face-down, face-down, face-up, and face-down.

To get the sleight right, you need to learn to count cards well. First, practice counting cards without doing the sleight.

Count the first card as you normally would, that is, slide the card from your left hand to right (if you’re right-handed).

Next, push the next two cards as one and take them both in your right hand and count it as one. When you do this, slide the first card with your right hand back into your left hand.

You’ll be left with two cards in your right hand and two in your left of which one is the card you want to hide.

Now, finish counting the cards, continuing with the third count, and lastly, counting four.

You can count three normal cards as four while simultaneously hiding the selected card with this move.

11. One-handed cut card magic trick

To begin, hold an entire deck of cards in your hand. Use your thumb and divide the deck into two and let the bottom half (B) fall into your palm. Hold the second pile (A) with your fingers and thumb.

Using your middle finger, move the bottom half (B) so it pivots on its long edge against your hand.

Continue pushing until ’B’ deck is standing on its edge and clears deck ’A.’ Your middle finger continues to push the lower half of deck ’B.’

Once the ’B’ deck clears ’A,’ allow ’A’ to drop into your palm.

Now finish off the cut by releasing ’B’ onto ’A.’ You’ve successfully exchanged the position of both piles.

Tip:

When you first start out, use a rubber band to keep both piles together. This will help you learn the move easily without constantly picking up cards you drop. You can also practice with a smaller pile and move onto the entire deck.

12. Pinky break

Use a loose dealer’s grip to hold an entire deck of cards face-down in your left hand.

Put your pinky finger underneath the two top cards and push your thumb outward, which will cause two to three cards to be pushed out.

Take your pinky finger and tuck it under the second top card, and then square your deck back up.

While you hold the deck regularly, continue to hold your pinky under the two top cards.

Use your thumb and right index finger. Your index finger should be under the card and thumb on top of the card so you can hold onto the cards above the pinky and turn it over.

As you turn the cards over, ensure they land on the fleshy part of the thumb.

This allows you to create a break and keep cards you turned over separate from the rest of the pack.

Now, just as you did earlier, do the same to put the card back into its original position.

13. Jumping card trick

You need to stand and then deal the cards.

Image: IStock

You need a bouncy, soft surface. A hard table will not work for this easy magic trick.

When you deal cards, hold them on the upper right corner with your thumb on the back and your index finger on the front corner.

You need to stand and then deal the cards so that the face points in your direction and the bottom left corner of the card is on the table.

Using your index finger, push down and forward on the upper-right corner to make the card curl the card away from you. As you lay pressure on the card and press, it will bend and start to slip.

Keep pushing till the card ’leaps’ backward.

With practice, you can get this in one single movement. And soon, with varying pressure and speed, you’ll be able to control the jump.

Practice re-catching the card smoothly so that the card always shoots back face down on the deck.

Quick tip

During practice, try tilting and lowering your lower hand (the one holding the deck) so that the card can easily slide back on the deck.

14. Color changing card trick

Note:

This is for right-handed people. Left-handed people can reverse the instructions.

For this, you’ll need one full deck and a single card from another pack with a similar pattern but different color.

Make sure that the card you want them to pick (the card of the other color) is on the bottom of the face-down deck.

Start by performing the Hindu shuffle. While you’re shuffling, ask an audience member to call out “stop.” When they say stop, cease shuffling and turn over the cards in your right hand.

The audience member will assume they picked this playing card, however, it’s the one you want them to pick. Now, reveal the card’s identity.

For a bigger distraction, call out the name of the card. This will make the audience think of the card’s identity rather than how it was selected.

Now deal the selected card face-up on a table. Remember not to show it’s back.

Assemble the deck face-down and spread the cards to show their backs

Ask the audience member to flip over the selected card. It will have a different design.

15. The impossible three-card trick

Pick three cards: Ace of Spades, Queen of Hearts, and Ace of Clubs, and put them in the same order on a table.

Ask an audience member to think of one of the three cards while you turn away.

Now ask them to tell another member in the audience their selected card.

Next, ask them to pick the two cards they didn’t choose and change their positions. If they selected the Ace of Clubs, they would switch the Ace of Spades and the Queen of Hearts.

Now ask them to turn all three cards face-down.

Now turn around and ask them to mix the cards up. While they do so, continually follow the card in the middle.

After they finish, turn over the card you followed.

If the card you turned over is an Ace of Spades, they mentally picked Ace of Clubs. If the card is Queen of Hearts, this is the card they picked. If it is an Ace of Clubs, then they chose the Ace of Spades.

After pretending to mind read, flip over the cards and tell them what they chose.

16. Do as I do trick

You need two entire decks without jokers. It’s best to use two different types.

Allow the audience member to pick any one deck.

Instruct the audience member to do as you do.

Start to shuffle the card and then cut them.

On your last shuffle, take a quick glance at the bottom card and memorize it. Let’s take the Queen of Hearts as an example.

To make sure your deck is original and not a trick deck, exchange it with your audience member.

After the exchange, ask the audience member to divide the deck in half and put the cards to their right

From the pile on the left, ask them to pick the top card, memorize it, and then put it on top of the other pile, without showing you.

Now ask them to take the pile on the left and put all the cards on top of the other deck. While it seems like their cards are getting shuffled, in reality, their card is going to be positioned next to the one you memorized (Queen of Hearts).

All this while, you complete the same action as them, but you don’t need to memorize any card here besides the Queen of Hearts.

Exchange the decks.

Ask them to search for their card and lay it face-down.

You do the same and pretend to look for a random card. But you are actually searching for the Queen of Hearts. And the card to the right will be their card. Lay it face-down.

Count to three, and when you flip over the cards, you’ve got the perfect match!

17. Red and black

First, separate all the black cards and red cards with the red on the bottom and blacks on top.

Spread the cards out facing down and ask an audience member to choose a card. Make a mental note of whether they picked a card from the red or black pile.

Ask them to memorize it. Before they place the card back, fan the cards again, so they put the card back in the opposite end of the pack from where they drew the card.

Once you spread the cards out, viola, the selected one will be the one in the wrong color.

18. Top of the deck trick

Ask an audience member to shuffle an entire deck and give it to you. Once they’re done, hold the deck, so it’s face up toward the audience. From their top, fan out the second, third, and fourth card, and ask them to pick one. Allow the top card to stay there at the back of the deck – it’s your ’secret’ to wowing the audience.

How the audience member will see it is one full card and a fan of the three cards.

Don’t forget you have an extra card behind the other fanned out cards, which the audience doesn’t know about.

When you ask the audience member to pick a card, point at each card and say ’one, two, or three.’

The first fanned card is actually the second, and the second is actually the third, that’s because you have a secret card.

Ask them to memorize their card.

Remember, you have to do this trick with cards face-down.

Now, if the audience member picked one, you count one but without showing, move the top card along to the middle.

If they picked two, you count one and move the top card into the middle of the deck and count two and move the next card into the middle of the deck.

For three, you need to follow the above steps, and lastly, on three, move the next card into the middle of the deck.

What the audience member doesn’t know is that their selected card is now on the top of the deck.

So you can use some dramatic effect to show that their card appeared at the top of the deck.

19. The fourth card

Announce in a dramatic fashion the fourth card.

Image: IStock

After you shuffle, handover the entire deck to a volunteer. Let them shuffle properly before they cut the deck.

Once they hand it over, fan the cards out quickly and let them just have a quick glance. What you’re actually doing is taking a peek at the fourth card from the top, which we’re going to call the “target card.”

Lay the cards face-down.

Get the volunteer to divide the cards. Ask them to hold one pile in their hands next to the second pile on the table.

Remember the top pile.

Now from the fourth card in the bottom pile, you can tell what the other pile’s fourth card is.

While you look at the fourth card, don’t let the audience see what it is.

Now, announce in a dramatic fashion the fourth card, which is your ’target card.’

Now, turn the fourth card over and reveal the trick!

20. All the eights

Take all the four eights from a pack of cards.

Hold the rest of the deck face-down.

Place one eight on top of the deck.

Place the next eight in the 10th position. Include the first eight in your count.

Now turn the deck over and place the eights in the eighth and ninth position.

Now your trick begins where you tell the audience member that you’ll predict where an eight is, and it’s in the tenth position.

Now turn the deck face up and ask them to say stop for you to divide the deck in half. It’s important they say stop only after the first two eights. After cutting, make sure the bottom pile is the first one on your left.

Now ask them to choose a pile. If they choose the first pile, the top card will tell you the count from the second pile. Similarly, the second pile helps you reveal the eights from the first pile. The top card on the first pile is an eight.

When you open the cards from the second and third pile, what you predicted will be true!

21. M.A.G.I.C card trick

Shuffle a deck of cards

For this easy magic trick, you only need to use three piles of three cards each. You can get rid of the rest.

Ask an audience member to choose a pile and turn it over, so the cards are faced upward.

This is the MAGIC card.

Turn over the pile and place all three small piles, one on top of the other. The MAGIC pile must be on top.

Now you have to spell the MAGIC card (ex: Five of Clubs) in a particular way.

Pick the nine cards up, and from the top, as you spell each letter of the word ’five,’ you drop a card down.

Once you finish your spelling, drop the cards in your hand on top of the cards you spelled out.

Next, spell ’of’ and repeat the procedure.

Lastly, spell ’clubs’ and repeat the procedure.

Now spell the word ’magic’ while you drop a card for each letter.

Turn over the last letter card that’s the ’c’ of ’magic,’ and it will be your MAGIC card.

22. The jumping card

Image: Shutterstock

To perform this trick, you need a table with a bit of give, as it acts like a springboard for the card.

Instead of the traditional way of dealing cards, show the card to the person in front of you and deal it ‘standing.’

Use your index finger to push on the upper-right corner of the card, causing it to bend and slip on the table.

This action needs to be quick and fluid. Practice is vital to mastering the bend and control of the cards.

Once you can make the card jump, practice catching it face down and smoothly sliding it back onto the deck.

This trick requires practice to adjust to the weight and feel of different cards.

Frequently Asked Questions

1. How do children shuffle cards like a magician?

You may show your child some videos online, especially those by magicians, showing the right way to shuffle cards. Children may also enroll in summer camps or classes taken by professional magicians where they can learn shuffling cards, among other tricks.

2. How do children perform a card trick without getting caught?

While performing a trick, ensure the audience’s attention is focused on where you want them to look. If they are distracted, they might notice the secret to your trick. Also, children must practice and perfect every trick to avoid making mistakes and accidentally revealing the secret.

3. How do children perform a card trick with multiple spectators?

First, have the child practice performing easy magic tricks for kids with cards in front of a few people, like family and friends. Once the child is confident, they can perform card tricks in front of strangers. After they gain more confidence, they can move on to performing before multiple spectators.

From the classic card tricks to the uncommon and mind-boggling ones, we have included all sorts of magic tricks with cards in the above list. These tricks will boost your child’s cognitive and social skills since Magic is a great way to meet new people and connect with them. These tricks can also be used for talent show ideas for kids. With a bit of practice and preparation, they can master these magic tricks with cards in no time. So go ahead and introduce these card tricks to your children and watch them amaze you. You may also encourage them to practice the tricks and show them to friends and family to build their skills and confidence.

Infographic: Tips On Performing A Card Trick

Children are mesmerized by magic and love it when they can amaze others with their tricks. This infographic can help your little one ace their card tricks. So, save it and share it with your child to let them know the secrets behind a smooth card trick.

Key Pointers

Magic is incomplete without the card tricks that never cease to amaze children
Trick them by magically teleporting a specific card from your hand to the envelope in theirs.
The classic guessing their card never gets old and will blow their minds.
Pinky break, jumping card, and many such tricks will engage and entertain kids.

Illustration: Easy Yet Amazing Magic Tricks With Cards For Kids

Image: Stable Diffusion/MomJunction Design Team

Learn how to amaze your friends with easy card tricks kids can do! Follow our step-by-step instructions and become a master of card magic! Get ready to dazzle and delight!

References

MomJunction's articles are written after analyzing the research works of expert authors and institutions. Our references consist of resources established by authorities in their respective fields. You can learn more about the authenticity of the information we present in our editorial policy.

Richard Wiseman et al.; Conjuring up creativity: the effect of performing magic tricks on divergent thinking; National Library of Medicines (2021).

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