Learn Street Magic - Magic Mind Tricks For Kids

Kids think it's absolutely fascinating when adults make things disappear or read their minds. To entertain your little party guests, brush up on these mind tricks well before they arrive.

For color clairvoyance, the performer proves (by magician's logic) that he can distinguish between colors without seeing them.

Display several wax crayons of the sort that children use with coloring books. "Magic," you begin, "is sometimes very useful. When I'm driving my car I never need to look at a traffic light to know whether it is red, yellow, or green. I just guess - and I'm always right. I'll show you."

Put your hands behind your back, and turn away from the audience. "Select one of the crayons and give it to me behind my back." When this has been done, face the audience again.

Behind your back, dig the nail of the middle finger of your right hand into the end of the crayon and scrape off a small piece of the colored wax. Bring this hand to the front, place it against your forehead, and concentrate. If you keep the fingers curled inward as your hand moves up to your forehead, you can spot the particle of crayon under the fingernail, and note its color.

Don't name the color immediately; that makes it look too easy. Pretend that what you are doing is difficult, and that you really are receiving faint mental impressions. Also, as should be done in most mind-reading tricks, give the information out piecemeal. "I get the impression of a light color - yellow, perhaps, or orange - I feel it more clearly now - the color is yellow!" This adds suspense and is dramatically effective.

Finally, prove that the trick wasn't just a lucky guess by doing it again once or twice.

You can also lead the kids to believe that you can see with your fingertips. In this trick, several colored objects are given to the magician behind his back and he apparently distinguishes one color from another by touch.

Any small, differently colored objects may be used - crayons, pencils, swizzle sticks, soda straws. In advance, push about four such objects, crayons, let us say, under the band of your wrist watch and up along the inner side of your arm. Memorize the order of the colors from left to right.

Begin the trick by handing out four duplicates. "I can," you announce, "tell one color from another by sense of touch alone. I can see color with my fingertips. Mix these colored crayons and then hand them to me behind my back."

After this has been done, face the audience again. Behind your back place the crayons in your hip pocket. Ask someone to name one of the colors. Immediately pull the crayon of the proper color from the memorized group that you have hidden up your sleeve, and toss it out.

Then produce the remaining colors, as called for. Do this rapidly; the faster it is done, the more difficult it seems to be.