theory11 — Magic Tricks & the World's Finest Playing Cards

I need a card trick to teach 10 year olds

C

chris17

Sep 1, 2007
172
0
Edmonton, Canada
Anybody have any ideas. I'm doing a kids show next week and the mom is buying them all decks of cards and wants me to teach them a trick after the show. Unfortuneately everthing I've done for the last 5 years has been from dnd and requires dls and top switches and other moves that take hours of practice. Anybody have any ideas for somthing hard hitting, simple but not to cheesy.
Thank you
 
My recommendation would be something simple, direct, and very easy to learn. They're 10 years old, which means about 3rd or 4th grade. Perhaps something like Invisible Reverse - or even a basic effect using a key card. It should be something very easy, with a method that is very straightforward. Have fun with it and make sure they do too. Even if most of them only use what you teach them once or twice, they may develop a passion and respect for magic in the process.
 
I would really recommend the 4 kings that go in the deck and come back to the top trick. I've always taught that one to kids of that age because they can really have fun with the story. I usually just do the classic cops and robbers story line but what kid doesn't like a cops and robbers story??
 
im gonna agree with JB and go with key card, its a simply concept for that age group to comprehend and can in fact develop a love for magic and gives them a secret to giggle about.
 
chris17 said:
Anybody have any ideas. I'm doing a kids show next week and the mom is buying them all decks of cards and wants me to teach them a trick after the show. Unfortuneately everthing I've done for the last 5 years has been from dnd and requires dls and top switches and other moves that take hours of practice. Anybody have any ideas for somthing hard hitting, simple but not to cheesy.
Thank you
Click to expand...


Pick up Joshua jays Introduction to magic, you can get it in every book store for about 15 bucks. It has tons of material in it, lots of easy stuff and also lots of greats stuff you can performe, even some kid show stuff.

Little bit OT :

Oh man, just dont tell me your going to performe some dnd stuff or anything they sell for 10 year old kids, the material can be good, BUT its not kid show stuff. I have seen lots of people doing advanced card tricks for kids and it never goes over well.
 
Here are some suggestions with some sources (not an exhaustive list of where to find the effects):

1. Finding A Selected Card / "All Red & All Black" (Scarne on Card Tricks) - deck is cut and two spectators pick cards and return them to the other spectator's half of the deck. The magician finds both cards.

2. Automatic Card Discovery (Mark Wilson) - Spectator's selected card appears as only reversed card in deck.

3. Poker Player's Picnic (RRTCM) / Swimmers (Scarne on Card Tricks) - Four of a kind appear on top of four piles after spectator cuts and deals the cards.

4. Traveling Aces (Scarne on Card Tricks) - Aces travel from top of four piles to a pile designated by the spectator.

5. Calling the Cards (Scarne on Card Tricks) - Spectator points to several cards in a spread out deck of cards and the magician accurately names each card. Can also be done with the magician naming the cards and the spectator then selecting the card.

6. Turn Over Card (Mark Wilson) - Key card effect where magician reveals spectator's selected card by turning over each card of the deck until he/she finds the card.

7. The "21" Trick - Three rows of 7 cards used to find spectator's thought of card.

None of those effects really use slights that are used in other effects (with the exception of the key card). Feel free to PM me if you need details.

Just some advice... wait until after your show to demonstrate your effects. That will keep the focus during your show on your performance, not the methods. Also, talk about the magician's oath and how you don't reveal the secret and about how to be a good spectator if they see another magician performing an effect that they know. If you teach more than one, I'd suggest giving out a sheet of paper with the instructions for the kids to take home.

Also, I second WallMott's advice about not doing advanced card tricks for that age group.
 
I would suggest going to a big chain book store (B&N, Borders) in person and looking through their store-brand card trick books.

These are meant for younger audiences, and focus on creating magic with a minimal number of sleights. Sometimes zero. If you have access to a few dollars for one of these, then it might be a lot better material to teach to 10 year olds.

That focus on magic over sleights can also be fun for the rest of us, too. There are a lot of basic tricks in those that can be made better with a more in-depth knowledge of cards, but which aren't necessarily covered by the extreme/street/underground scenes.

Example: I went thumbing through one of my own store brand books just to make sure this wasn't offering any bad advice. It detailed a basic effect with a "triumph" style ending yet was reduced to one really, really simple sleight. It would be a lot cleaner if that sleight was replaced by one more "advanced" but hardly difficult move.

So you keep the harder version for yourself and teach the easy one to the kids. Or teach them an easier one.

Anyway, that's my thought.
 
key card tricks.

or theres the one i teach to a lot of kids at my high school who want to learn its the simple reverse trick with the bottom card flipped over...

i even use that trick, i just add some heavier sleights for a more convincing performance, .(half pass, gamblers cop, etc)
 
whenever i try to teach a 10 year old a trick their parents get mad because their child was trying to stick a needle through thier hand (jk) good advice so far
 
2. Automatic Card Discovery (Mark Wilson) - Spectator's selected card appears as only reversed card in deck.

I would go with this one myself. I showed my own kids how this one is done and they love to fool their freinds with it.
 
Tivo 2.0 should be fine. It's easy and fries people....that or the Clipshift................






seriously though, I would go for the four jacks trick (I've seen little kids show that one to me before) or Automatic Card Discovery by Mark Wilson like everyone else said. I can't tell you how many times I've seen kids doing that trick. It works too when done with conviction, because nobody expects you to be stupid enough to do that. Definitely a good choice to teach kids.


Cheers
 
Wallmott said:
Pick up Joshua jays Introduction to magic, you can get it in every book store for about 15 bucks. It has tons of material in it, lots of easy stuff and also lots of greats stuff you can performe, even some kid show stuff.

Little bit OT :

Oh man, just dont tell me your going to performe some dnd stuff or anything they sell for 10 year old kids, the material can be good, BUT its not kid show stuff. I have seen lots of people doing advanced card tricks for kids and it never goes over well.
Click to expand...

Noooo I have props like a production briefcase and stuff. For kids I'll usually just do a colour change maybe a four ace trick or somthing with cards.
 
Bad idea man. It's the four jacks that's the winner. It's easy and fun for the kids. The invisible card reverse is just not the right environment of a card trick, if you get me. Just my opinion, though, and your decision. The basic reversed trick is good as well, where you reverse the bottom card, etc.

Ian
 
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