Easy Card Tricks
for Kids of All Ages

Page One     Page Two

Introduction

The tricks on this page require a bit of sleight-of-hand or sneaky moves or preparation, but they're not difficult to do with a little practice. Keep in mind that most of these tricks require a full 52-card deck in order to work properly.

Card Tricks (Continued)

20. "Slap It Through Or Tap It Through"

This one requires a bit of sleight-of-hand, but my nine-year-old daughter is able to fool people with this card trick. The person who showed me this trick says that he has seen ten-year-olds performing it successfully.

First, sit down at a table so that you can reach under the table. Ask the spectator to pull out any card from the deck and hold it and memorize it without letting you see it. While he's doing this, set the deck face-down on the table near the edge of the table as in the picture below.

Then pick up less than half of the deck and hold it face-down in your left hand (if you're right-handed). Place your right hand on top of the stack in your left hand, and secretly pick up the top card and "palm" it in your right hand (in other words, hold the top card in your right hand so the spectator doesn't know there's a card in your right hand). This takes practice, and it helps if you keep your right hand on top of the stack in your left hand so the spectator can't tell that you're "palming" a card in your right hand. Even people with small hands can fool people with this trick, so don't worry if you can't completely hide the card in your right hand.

The picture shows the sleight-of-hand that you need to do, although in reality you would keep your right hand on top of the deck so the spectator doesn't know that you're palming a card:



Ask the spectator to place his card face-down on top of the stack on the table. Look him in the eye (so that he will look at your eyes) and say, "To do this trick, I can either SLAP the cards or I can gently TAP the cards, which one do you prefer?" When you say the word "SLAP," quickly slap your right hand on top of the stack on the table and release the card that you were palming in your right hand. You've now secretly placed a card on top of the stack on the table. When you say the word "TAP," gently tap the stack on the table. Now the spectator chooses whether you should slap the cards or tap the cards.

Say, "I'm going to place half of the cards under the table." Pick up the top card from the stack on the table and set it face-down on the table next to the stack (the spectator will think that this is his card, but don't let him see what the card is). Pick up some cards from the top of the stack on the table and place them face-down on top of the stack in your left hand, so that both stacks have about the same number of cards. It doesn't matter how many cards are in each stack, because the purpose of moving the cards is so that the spectator's card is now the top card in the stack in your left hand. Pick up the single card that's on the table (which the spectator thinks is his card) and place it face-down on top of the stack on the table.

Place your left hand (holding a stack of cards) under the table, directly below the stack on the table. Say, "Now watch!" Slap your right hand onto the stack on the table or gently tap the stack on the table (whichever the spectator had chosen). Bring your left hand out from under the table and say, "Here's your card!" Turn over the top card in your left hand. It's the spectator's card, which looks like it passed through the table into your left hand!



21. "The 7 by 7 Trick"

This trick works automatically and is similar to the "3 by 7" trick on Page One, but in this card trick there's a secret move that you'll do behind your back for the surprise ending.

Hold the deck out and ask the spectator to pull out any 3 cards. Now say, "Okay, we're not going to use those cards!" (that usually gets a chuckle from the spectator).

Deal 7 cards in a row face-up. Now deal 7 more cards on top of the first 7, overlapping them so you can see the values of all of the cards. Continue dealing in this way until you use up all of the cards. This is identical to the "3 by 7" trick (on Page One) except that instead of having 3 columns and 7 rows you'll have 7 columns and 7 rows.

Ask the spectator to mentally pick one of the cards which you just dealt (but she shouldn't tell you what card she chose), and then ask her to point to the column which contains her card (just like in the "3 by 7" trick). Now pick up each column, preserving the order of the cards in each column, but make sure that the column she pointed to is the fourth column that you pick up (because you want it to be in the middle of the deck, just like in the "3 by 7" trick). Now you have a stack of cards with her column of cards in the middle of the stack.

Deal out the 7 columns and 7 rows exactly as you did before. Ask the spectator to point to the column which contains her card, but this time pick up her column of cards first (so it will be on top of the deck after you pick up all of the cards). Make sure that you preserve the order of the cards in each column.

Put the deck behind your back (face-down) and move 3 cards from the top to the bottom (keeping them face-down). Now turn over the top card so it's face-up. Cut the deck by taking the bottom half of the deck and putting it on top of the deck. Bring the deck out in front again and place it face-up on the table.

Say, "I don't know what card you chose, but I'll spread out the cards and see if I can find your card." Spread out all of the cards (face-up). Her card will be the only face-down card in the deck! Say, "Hmmm, now which card is yours? Maybe it's this one!" Slide the face-down card out of the deck and ask her what her card was, then turn the card over.



22. "12-Card Prediction"

This is an interesting self-working trick in which you write down a secret prediction, and the spectator will choose the card that you predicted! Why does it work every time?

Tell the spectator to shuffle the deck, then tell him to spread out the cards face-down on the table. Tell him to pick out any 12 cards at random from the deck (it's okay for you to watch him doing this). When he has pulled out his 12 cards, tell him to shuffle them well, and while he's doing this, pick up the rest of the deck and secretly memorize the bottom card as you straighten up the cards. Say, "I'm going to predict which card you will randomly choose," then write down on a piece of paper the card that you memorized (but don't let him see what you've written).

Now tell him to pick any 4 cards out of the 12 that he pulled out of the deck. Tell him to lay those 4 cards face-up on the table next to each other, and then to place the rest of the stack face-down on the table.



Place the rest of the deck face-down on top of the stack of 8 cards, then pick it up again (including the stack of 8 cards).

Now deal some cards face-down in front of each of the 4 cards that he picked, until you reach a value of 10 for each one. For example, if one of the cards that he picked was a 4 then deal 6 more cards in front of it. If one of the cards that he picked was a 10, Jack, Queen, or King then it already equals 10, so don't deal any cards in front of it.



Now ask him to add up the values of the 4 cards that he had picked (remember that a 10, Jack, Queen, or King equals 10). For example, if the 4 cards are the 4 of Diamonds, the Queen of Spades, the 2 of Hearts, and the 9 of Spades, then the total is 25. Count down in the deck to the 25th card, and place the 25th card face-down on the table. Say, "You shuffled the deck, then you chose 12 cards at random, then you shuffled them, then you chose 4 cards from those 12, and I had no idea which 4 cards you would choose. Now we've added up the values of your 4 cards, and we've counted down to that exact card in the deck. There's no way I could have known in advance how many cards to count down in the deck, but now let's look at my prediction." Show him the prediction that you wrote down before the trick. Turn over the card that you had placed on the table (the 25th card in this example), and it will match your prediction!



23. "Pull Out Both of the Spectator's Cards"

This is a quick trick which has a nice surprise ending. See trick #26 below for another trick with the same ending.

Tell the spectator to look through the deck and pull out the Ace of Spades. Then tell him to shuffle the deck and deal out 14 cards, face-down, onto a stack on the table (set the rest of the deck aside). Tell him to hold the stack in his hand and then stick the Ace of Spades face-up anywhere in the stack. Now tell him to memorize the card just above the Ace of Spades and the card just below the Ace of Spades, but not to disturb the order of the cards. Say, "Those are the cards which you've randomly chosen, and I have no idea what they are."

Now take the stack from the spectator (with the Ace of Spades still in the stack) and deal the top 3 cards face-down onto the table next to each other. Deal the next 3 cards on top of those cards (as if you're dealing out the cards for a card game), and keep dealing in this way until you've dealt out all of the cards in the stack. Put the last stack (the one on your right) on top of the middle stack, then put that bigger stack on top of the first stack. Repeat this 2 more times.

Now hold the stack in your hand, face-down, and look through the stack until you find the Ace of Spades (which should be face-up). Separate the stack at the Ace and move the top part of the stack to the bottom of the stack (so the Ace of Spades is now on top of the stack). Give the Ace of Spades to the spectator and tell him to insert it face-up anywhere in the stack again, then square up the stack.

Say, "Okay, here are your 2 cards!" Hold the stack in your hand with your thumb underneath and your fingers on top of the stack. Loosen your grip just enough to let the cards fall to the table, then tighten your grip again. With a little practice, the top card and the bottom card (his cards) will remain in your hand, and if you do this with a little flourish then the spectator will be amazed that you "pulled" both of his cards out of the stack!



24. "The Rising Card"

This is another trick which has a nice surprise ending.

Deal the top 5 cards face-down onto the table next to each other, then deal the next 5 cards on top of the first 5 cards (as if you're dealing out the cards for a card game), and continue dealing until you have 5 stacks with 5 cards in each stack. Ask the spectator to point to a stack, then you pick up that stack and fan the cards so she can see them. Ask her to memorize one of those cards, but not to tell you what it is.

Put the stack that you're holding face-down on top of one of the stacks on the table (it doesn't matter which one), then put the other stacks on top of it. Deal out the 5 stacks again, just as before. Now pick up each stack and fan it so she can see the cards, and tell her to let you know which stack contains her card.

When she tells you which stack contains her card, put it down (face-down) and then pick up any 2 of the other stacks and hold them together as one stack in your hand, face-down. Pick up the top card from her stack and place it on top of the stack in your hand, then slide it towards you so it sticks out about halfway. Pick up the new top card from her stack and place it on top of the stack in your hand so it's lined up with the rest of the stack. Now pick up the new top card from her stack and place it on top of the stack in your hand, then slide it towards you so it sticks out about halfway. You now have 2 cards which are sticking out of the stack in your hand, with one card in between them. Pick up the rest of her stack and place it on top of the stack in your hand, so it's lined up with the rest of the stack in your hand. Now pick up the other 2 stacks and place them on top of the stack in your hand, so they're lined up with the rest of the stack in your hand. At this point you're holding all 5 stacks in your hand, and in the middle there are 2 cards which are sticking out.

Hold the stack so the spectator can see what the bottom card in the stack is, and so the 2 cards are sticking out from the bottom edge of the stack (i.e. so those 2 cards are pointing down). Say, "You don't see your card, right? That's because this is your card!" When you say the word "this," hit the bottom edge of the stack with your other hand. In other words, as you hold the stack so the spectator can see what the bottom card in the stack is, quickly bring your other hand up towards the 2 cards which are sticking out of the bottom edge of the stack and quickly push them up until they're flush with the bottom edge of the stack. This will cause the spectator's card to stick up out of the top edge of the stack! This takes a little practice, because you don't want to grip the stack too loosely or too tightly.



25. "The Reversed Card"

This trick was sent to me by a 12-year-old named Christopher, who invented it. Thanks Christopher!

Before you show the deck to the spectator, hold the deck face-down in your hand and secretly flip the bottom card over so it's face-up.

Hold the deck in your hands, and spread out some cards (face-down) and ask the spectator to pull one out and memorize it. Don't let her see the bottom card! While she's distracted by looking at her card, secretly turn the deck over. The deck will look like it's still face-down because earlier you flipped the bottom card over. Ask the spectator to push her card into the deck face-down, anywhere she wants.

Now put the deck behind your back and turn the deck over (so it's now face-down again). Flip the bottom card over so it's face-down again. Bring the deck in front of you and place it on the table, then slowly spread out the cards and her card will be the only face-up card!



26. "Pull Out the Cards that the Spectator Named"

This trick was sent to me by a 13-year-old named Tyler, who invented it. Thanks Tyler!

First you must prepare the deck so it has a random card on top, followed by an Ace, a 2, a 3, etc., all the way up to a King (they don't need to be in the same suit). On the bottom of the deck, the bottom card is a random card, and the card above it is an Ace, and the card above the Ace is a 2, and the card above the 2 is a 3, and so on, all the way up to a King (they don't need to be in the same suit). Now the deck is prepared, but don't let the spectator see you preparing the deck!

Ask the spectator to name 2 cards, but not the suits. If he says "7 and Jack," for example, then deal 7 cards (because one of his cards is a 7) one at a time from the top of the deck face-down onto the table to create a stack, and then deal 11 cards (because his other card is a Jack) one at a time from the bottom of the deck face-down onto the stack.

Now do the same ending as in trick #23 above: Say, "I had no idea what cards you would pick, but here are your 2 cards!"

Hold the stack in your hand with your thumb underneath and your fingers on top of the stack. Loosen your grip just enough to let the cards fall to the table, then tighten your grip again. With a little practice, the top card and the bottom card (the cards that he named) will remain in your hand, and if you do this with a little flourish then the spectator will be amazed that you "pulled" both of his cards out of the deck!



27. "Memorize the Bottom Card"

This trick was sent to me by a 13-year-old named Eric. Thanks Eric!

Tell the spectator to pull any card out of the deck and memorize it. Hold the deck in your left hand, and lift up the top half of the deck with your right hand. Tell the spectator to place her card face-down on top of the face-down stack in your left hand. As she's doing this, take a quick peek and memorize the bottom card in the stack in your right hand (let's pretend that the bottom card is the Ace of Spades). Now place the stack in your right hand face-down on top of the stack in your left hand, so the spectator's card is buried in the middle of the deck.

Place the deck face-up onto the table, then spread out the cards and look for the card that you had memorized (the Ace of Spades in our example). Pull out the card immediately to the right of the card that you had memorized (so in this example you would pull out the Two of Hearts in the pictures below), and say, "Here's your card!"


Alternate Ending

Here's an alternate ending that you can use, if you prefer.

Spread the cards face-up on the table until you see the card that you had memorized (the Ace of Spades in our example). Push that card up a little bit so it's sticking out of the deck:



Push up the card immediately to the right of the Ace of Spades (this is the spectator's card, which is the Two of Hearts in this example), but don't say anything yet. Keep pushing a few more cards out of the deck, one at a time:



Now say, "The next card I push up out of the deck is your card." The spectator will think you did the trick wrong because you've already gone past her card (in this example, she'll think you're going to push up the Queen of Spades next), but then you surprise her by going back and pushing her card up out of the deck!




Alternate Version

Here's another version of this trick, which was sent to me by a 12-year-old named Dallon. Thanks Dallon!

First, secretly memorize the card on the bottom of the deck. Have the spectator pull out any card and memorize it without showing it to you, then have her place her card on top of the deck. Tell her to cut the deck as many times as she wants, then tell her you're going to read her mind. Start flipping the cards one by one face-up onto the table until you see the bottom card that you had memorized. Her card will be right after the card that you memorized. Flip her card face-up onto the table, and flip a few more cards face-up onto the table. She'll think that you missed her card. Say, "The next card that I flip over will be your card." Now pick up her card and flip it over face-down!



28. "Wallet Prediction"

My fifteen-year-old son Michael showed me this trick, and for awhile I couldn't figure out how he did it! Thanks Michael!

This trick requires some preparation. Pull out a card from the deck (let's say it's the Ten of Hearts), then write the number and the suit of the card on a small piece of paper, then place the paper into a wallet. The wallet needs to be bigger than the card. Place the card face-up on top of the wallet (on the outside of the wallet), then place the wallet and the card into your pocket. All of this needs to be done without the spectator seeing it.

Now for the trick. Hand the deck of cards to the spectator, and ask her to deal 10 or more cards face-down onto the table, creating a stack of cards (but not looking at any cards). When she stops dealing, say, "I had no way of knowing how many cards you would deal out, but I wrote down a prediction of what the top card will be and I put the prediction into my wallet."

Pull out your wallet and the card from your pocket, holding them so the card is beneath the wallet as in this picture (but don't let anyone see the card under your wallet). Place the wallet on top of her stack of cards.



Ask her to pick up the wallet and open it and read out the prediction. After she does this, ask her to turn over the top card on the stack. It's the card you predicted!



29. "Twelves"

This is a combination of 2 different tricks, with a surprise ending. I named it "Twelves" to help remember how the trick is performed.

Tell the spectator that you're going to turn around so you can't watch while she picks a card and deals out some cards. Before turning around, show her what she's going to do. Say, "First pick any card and memorize it, then place it face-down onto the table." As you say this, pull a card from the deck and place it face-down onto the table. Say, "Now deal out a stack of face-down cards with up to 10 cards, then deal a second stack of face-down cards with the same number of cards as in the first stack." As you say this, deal out a stack of 3 cards face-down onto the table, then deal a second stack of 3 cards face-down onto the table. Point out that both stacks have the same number of cards. Gather all of the cards together and hand the full deck of cards to her.

Turn around, then ask her to pick a card and memorize it, then place it face-down onto the table. Ask her to pick a number from 1 to 10, then deal that many cards face-down onto a stack on the table next to her card (quietly so you can't hear how many cards she dealt), then deal that many cards face-down onto a second stack on the table, then place the deck face-down onto the table. When she's finished, you can turn around and face her again.

Ask her to place her card face-down on top of the deck. Now pick up one of her stacks and place it face-down on top of the deck. Say, "I don't know how many cards you dealt so I don't know where your card is, but I'm going to try something." Pick up the deck and hold it behind your back. Count 12 cards off of the top of the deck, one at a time, while reversing their order. In other words, if the deck is in your left hand then take the top card and hold it in your right hand, then take the new top card and place it on top of the card in your right hand, and so on, until you have a stack of 12 cards in your right hand.

Place the stack of 12 cards face-down on top of the deck, then bring the deck in front of you and place it face-down onto the table, then place her remaining stack face-down on top of the deck. Say, "I don't know how many cards were in your first stack that I placed on top of your card, and I don't know how many cards were in your second stack that I placed on top of the deck, but I'm going to try to find your card."

Pick up the deck. Deal 2 cards face-down onto the table next to each other (for making 2 stacks of cards), then deal a card face-down onto the card on the left and another card face-down onto the card on the right, and continue dealing cards onto both stacks (like dealing out the cards for a 2-player game) until you've dealt 12 cards. Now you have 2 stacks with 6 cards in each stack, and the very last card that you dealt was the spectator's card.

Now for the "reveal." Point to the stack which does not contain the spectator's card, and ask her to count how many cards are in that stack. While she's doing this, secretly lick the back of your left hand. When she places the stack face-down onto the table, pick up her card from the top of the other stack (without letting her see that it's her card) and place it face-down onto the back of your left hand. Then ask her to take the top card of the stack that she counted and place it face-down onto the back of your right hand. Say, "One of these cards is your card, and it will reveal itself by bending at the corners. Watch!" Within a minute the card on your left hand should begin to curl up at the corners! When the spectator can see that the card is bending a bit at the corners, drop the card that's on your right hand and then take the card off of your left hand and show her that it's her card.





30. "Three Cards"

Hold the deck facing you and fan the cards a bit so you can see the first 3 cards at the top of the deck. Look at the third card from the top (let's say it's the Seven of Spades), and make sure it's a different number than the first or second cards. If the first or second card has the same number as the third card then cut the deck until the first and second cards both have different numbers than the third card.

Since the third card from the top is the Seven of Spades in this example, go through the deck and find both of the red Sevens and put them on the bottom of the deck, then find the other black Seven and put it on the bottom of the deck:



Say, "Here's a Seven, and another Seven, and another Seven." Each time you say "Seven," take the card that's on the bottom of the deck (still facing towards you) and place it face-up onto the table. You don't want the spectator to look too closely at the first Seven that you place on the table (the Seven of Clubs in this case), so after you place the Seven of Clubs face-up onto the table then quickly say, "and another Seven" and cover the Seven of Clubs with a red Seven (face-up), then say, "and another Seven" and place the other red Seven face-up on top of the stack. Turn the stack over and place it face-down onto the table.

Hold the deck face-down in your hand, then take the top card off of the deck and place it face-down onto the table. Say, "Place the top Seven from the stack of Sevens face-down on top of the card that I just dealt, to make a stack." After he does this, then take the new top card off of the deck and place it face-down onto the stack. Say, "Place the top Seven from the stack of Sevens face-down on top of the card that I just dealt." After he does this, then once again take the new top card off of the deck and place it face-down onto the stack. Say, "Place the remaining Seven face-down on top of the card that I just dealt." After he does this, pick up the stack and place it face-down on top of the deck.

Say, "Those 3 Sevens are now sandwiched between 3 other cards, but watch!" Place the top card face-up onto the table and say "Seven," then place the new top card face-up onto the table and say "Seven," then place the new top card face-up onto the table and say "Seven!" The top 3 cards are Sevens! (However, they're not the same 3 Sevens that you originally showed the spectator. Can you figure out why?)



31. "Finding the Two Cards"

This trick requires secretly setting up the deck, but it's almost impossible for someone to figure out how the trick works!

To setup the deck, notice that the numbers on the 2s and 6s and 8s, for example, are rounded on top, and the numbers on the 5s and 7s and Jacks, for example, are flat on top. Aces and 4s are usually pointed on top. 10s can be considered as being round on top. 3s are usually flat on top, but in your deck they might be rounded on top. Separate the deck into 2 stacks so that one stack contains only flat or pointed numbers, and the other stack contains only rounded numbers. Put one stack on top of the other so the deck looks normal, and now you're ready to do the trick.

This trick can be done with 2 spectators who each choose one card, or it can be done with one spectator who chooses 2 cards. Let's assume there are 2 spectators.

Hold the deck facing you so you can see all of the cards, then separate the deck in half so that one half contains only flat or pointed numbers, and the other half contains only rounded numbers (don't let the spectator know what's in each half). Set the 2 halves of the deck face-down on the table.

Ask spectator #1 to look through one of those stacks and pull out a card and memorize it, then place the stack face-down onto the table. Ask spectator #2 to do the same with the other stack. No matter how much they look through their stacks, they won't be able to tell that the stacks are "rigged"! Now ask spectator #1 to place his card face-down anywhere in spectator #2's stack, and then to thoroughly shuffle the stack and place it face-down onto the table. Ask spectator #2 to place her card face-down anywhere in spectator #1's stack, and then to thoroughly shuffle the stack and place it face-down onto the table.

Pick up the stack which contains spectator #1's card, holding it so you can see all of the cards but without letting the spectators see the cards. Look through the stack and pull out the "oddball" card (for example, pull out the card with a rounded top if the stack contains the flat or pointed numbers) and place that card at the top of the stack. Place the stack face-down in front of spectator #1. Do the same with the other stack, placing it face-down in front of spectator #2. Say, "One, two, three...these are your cards!" Turn over the top card in each stack to reveal the cards that the spectators chose!



32. "Eight"

This trick requires a helper.

Place an Eight (such as the Eight of Spades) face-up onto the table, then place 7 more cards face-up onto the table so that all 8 cards are in the same arrangement as the spades on the Eight of Spades:



Leave the room, and have your helper ask the spectator to point to one of the 8 face-up cards (let's say that she points to the Ace of Diamonds), then your helper should let you know that you can come back.

Your helper will then point to several cards, asking you if that's the card which the spectator chose. Each time your helper points to a card say, "No, that's not the one," until your helper points to the Eight of Spades. The specific spade that your helper points to on the Eight of Spades will indicate which card the spectator chose, because the face-up cards are arranged in the same pattern as the spades on the Eight of Spades. In the above picture, the helper is pointing to the spade which corresponds with the Ace of Diamonds. Now you know which card the spectator chose! When the helper points to the card that the spectator chose, say "That's the one!"



33. "Tell Me When to Stop"

Shuffle the deck, and secretly memorize the bottom card. Hold the deck in your left hand with your right-hand fingers on top and your right-hand thumb on the bottom. Use your right-hand thumb to secretly slide the bottom card towards you a little bit:



Make sure that the spectator can't see the bottom card. Say, "Tell me when to stop." With your right-hand fingers, slide the top cards towards you one at a time until he tells you to stop:



When he says "Stop," pull the top section of cards off of the deck (i.e. the cards which you slid towards you), and use your right-hand thumb to pull the bottom card as well. Hold this stack in your right hand. The card which was originally on the bottom of the deck (which you memorized) is now on the bottom of the stack in your right hand. Hold the stack up so that the spectator can see the bottom card in your right hand (and so that you can't see the card). In this example, the card that you had memorized, which was on the bottom of the deck, is the Eight of Spades:



Say, "Your card is...," and then say the card which you had memorized.


Alternate Ending

Since you know which card the spectator will "choose," see if you can invent a surprising way to reveal that card! For example, see "The Phone Trick" below.



34. "The Phone Trick"

For this trick you'll need another person that you can call on the phone. Practice together so you both know what to do.

Hold the deck and ask the spectator to pick any card and memorize it and hand it to you. Memorize her card. Now say that you're going to call The Amazing Magician who will tell her what card she chose.

Call the other person on the phone (but not on a speakerphone), and when he answers he should immediately say, "Ace Two Three," etc., all the way up to King. When he reaches the number of the card that the spectator chose, then you should say, "Hi, is The Amazing Magician there?" Now he should say the names of all 4 suits, and when he says the suit which the spectator chose then you should say something like, "Hi Amazing Magician, can you tell my friend what card she chose?"

Put the spectator on the phone, and The Amazing Magician can tell her what card she chose!

This trick is more impressive if the spectator thinks that you don't know what her card is. For example, your helper (The Amazing Magician) can write down several cards, and you can put those cards on the bottom of the deck. Then you can use the "Tell Me When to Stop" trick (above) to force the spectator to choose the first card on your helper's list. This way, you can repeat the trick several times, depending on how many cards your helper wrote down. If your helper has written down several cards, then it's fine to have your helper on a speakerphone.



35. "Where Did the Ace of Diamonds Go?"

Before you do this trick, secretly put the Ace of Diamonds in your pocket or your wallet or some other hidden place. Now pull out the other 3 Aces, and carefully hold them like this:



Show the 3 Aces to the spectator (but you don't want him to examine the cards too closely), then place them face-down onto the table as a stack of 3 cards. Say, "Now I'll bury these 3 Aces in the deck." Take the top Ace and insert it face-down into the deck. Do the same with the next Ace (don't let the spectator see what card it is). Do the same with the last Ace.

Say, "Now shuffle the deck." After the spectator shuffles the deck then say, "What were the 3 cards that I showed you?" He should say that they were the Ace of Clubs, Ace of Diamonds, and Ace of Spades. Say, "Look through the deck and pull out all 4 Aces." When he discovers that the Ace of Diamonds has disappeared, then reveal it in your pocket or wallet (or wherever you had hid it).



36. "The Spectator Points to the Right Cards"

Shuffle the cards, and memorize a card near the top or the bottom of the deck. Let's pretend that you memorized the third card from the top, and it's the Ace of Spades.

Spread the cards all over the table, keeping track of where the third card from the top is (the card that you memorized). In the picture, notice that the cards on top of the deck have been brought around to overlap the middle of the deck. Say, "Try to guess where the Ace of Spades is, and point to it." In this example the card that you memorized was the Ace of Spades, so that's the card you ask the spectator to try to find.



Pick up the card that she pointed to, and look at it (don't let anyone see what card it is). Let's pretend it's the Seven of Hearts. Say, "Good job! Now try to guess where the Seven of Hearts is, and point to it." Pick up the card that she pointed to, and look at it (don't let anyone see what card it is). Let's pretend it's the Three of Diamonds. Say, "Good job! Now I'll try to guess where the Three of Diamonds is." Pick up the third card from the top (which you memorized at the beginning of the trick). Since the top part of the deck overlaps the middle of the deck, this helps hide the fact that you're picking the third card from the top.

You now have 3 cards in your hand. Ask the spectator to name the 3 cards that you both selected, and then show her that you're holding those 3 cards!

Note: When the spectator points to her first card, if it's the card that you memorized then turn it over and say something like, "Great job!" When the spectator points to her second card, if it's the card that you memorized then pick it up and show her both cards in your hand. She picked the right cards!

Each time you do this trick, memorize a card from a different place in the deck. That way the spectators won't see any pattern in how you do the trick.



37. "The Spectator Finds the Aces"

You'll need to prepare the deck before you do this trick. To do this, first deal 2 Aces face-up onto a stack on the table, then put a random card face-up on top of that stack. Now do the same thing with the other 2 Aces and another random card:



Pick up the stack on the right and turn it face-down, then put it on top of the other stack. Now pick up those cards and place them on top of the deck:



Now you're ready to do the trick. Hold the deck in one hand, and place the fingers of your other hand on top of the deck. Use your fingers to pull the cards towards you one at a time, and ask the spectator to tell you when to stop. When you do this, make sure to start somewhere below the face-up cards so he can't see the face-up cards near the top of the deck:



When he tells you to stop, then turn over the cards that you had pulled towards you and place them face-up on top of the deck. Spread out those face-up cards until you find the first face-down card, then show him the face-up cards (but don't let him see that there are some face-up cards hidden near the top of the deck):



Remove the face-up cards and place them face-down on the bottom of the deck. Deal the top card face-down onto the table and say, "This is your first card."

Repeat the whole process 3 more times to get his second, third, and fourth cards. At this point you should have a stack of 4 face-down cards which he "picked." Turn over that stack, and all 4 cards that he "picked" will be the 4 Aces!



38. "The Spectator Finds the Cards"

Shuffle the cards until the bottom 2 cards don't have the same number or the same suit. Memorize the bottom 2 cards (let's say they're the Three of Spades and the Jack of Hearts).

Tell the spectator that she's going to do a trick, and you're not going to touch the cards at all. Ask her to hold the deck, then have her show you the top card so you can say "Yes" or "No." If you say "No" then she should place the card face-down on the table, making a stack of face-down cards. If you say "Yes" then she should place the card face-up on the table. Have her show you each card one at a time until you've chosen 2 cards. What you're trying to find are the 2 cards which are the "twins" of the 2 cards that you memorized (i.e. the same number and the same color), so in this case you would choose the Three of Clubs and the Jack of diamonds. Have her place your 2 cards face-up side by side on the table.

Ask her to deal the remaining cards into 2 face-down stacks. Have her turn over the top card on each stack. She found the "twins" of your cards!



39. "Pull the Cards from Your Pocket"

Hand the Ace of Spades to the spectator, then deal out a stack of 8 cards face-down onto the table. Pick up the stack of 8 cards and hold the cards face-down in your hand. Ask the spectator to insert the Ace of Spades face-up into the stack. Fan out the cards in your hand and then hold them up so he can see the faces of the cards, and ask him to memorize the 2 cards which are touching the Ace of Spades (i.e. the card which is just above the Ace, and the card which is just below the Ace). Make sure you can't see the faces of the cards so you don't know what cards he chose.

Deal the top card face-down onto the table, then deal the next card face-down onto the table to the right of the first card. Deal the next card face-down on top of the first card, and keep alternating as you deal out the cards onto the 2 stacks. Pick up the stack on the right and place it on top of the other stack, then pick up the cards and deal them out again in exactly the same way. Again, pick up the stack on the right and place it on top of the other stack.

Pick up the cards, then fan them out face-down to find the face-up Ace of Spades. Take the cards which are above the Ace of Spades, and place them face-down on the bottom of the deck. Put the Ace of Spades face-up onto the table.

Show the spectator that you're putting the top 4 cards into your right-hand pocket (with the faces of the cards facing towards your body), and you're putting the bottom 4 cards into your left-hand pocket (with the faces of the cards facing towards your body). While you're doing this, only let him see the backs of the cards. In your right-hand pocket, grab the second card from the top of the stack. In your left-hand pocket, grab the second card from the bottom of the stack. Ask him what his 2 cards are, then pull out the cards that you've grabbed in your pockets and show them to him. You pulled his cards out of your pocket!


Page One     Page Two





"Easy Card Tricks for Kids of All Ages"
URL: http://daveroot.neocities.org/cardtricks/CardTricks2.html

Modification History
01/17/2016: Moved the card tricks which require sleight-of-hand or preparation to Page Two and re-numbered all of the tricks.
03/21/2010: New page.


Dave Root

email: dave.root@live.com
home page:   http://daveroot.neocities.org