12 easy magic tricks that will genuinely impress your child

Before you start

Three rules make a trick work. Never repeat a trick for the same audience — the second time, they watch the hand you do not want them watched. Never explain the method, however hard they push; the secret is the whole gift. And practise in front of a mirror until your hands stop thinking about it.

Patter matters more than skill at this level. Talking while you do the move is what stops the audience concentrating on the move.

Ages: tricks 1-5 can be performed by a five- or six-year-old. Tricks 6-9 suit seven to nine. The last three need a ten-year-old's patience.

The first five (easiest)

1. The vanishing coin. Place a coin on the table, cover it with a glass, cover the glass with a cloth. Lift the cloth-covered glass to show the coin has gone — because as you lifted it, you tipped the coin into your lap. Method: the glass and cloth move together; the coin never moves at all. Give-away: looking down at your lap.

2. The rubber band jump. Loop a rubber band over your index and middle fingers, close your fist, and it jumps to your ring and little fingers. Method: while closing the fist, slip all four fingertips inside the loop; opening the hand does the rest. Practise this one for a week; it looks impossible and is nearly automatic once learnt.

3. The unbreakable matchstick. Wrap a matchstick in a handkerchief, let a spectator snap it through the cloth, unwrap it — it is whole. Method: a second, broken matchstick is hidden in the hem of the handkerchief and is what they actually snap. Prepare the handkerchief in advance.

4. The floating arm. Stand in a doorway and press the backs of both hands hard against the frame for thirty seconds, then step out and let the arms rise on their own. Method: it is a genuine reflex, not a trick — which makes it the easiest thing on this list to teach a small child.

5. The stuck-together fingers. Ask the spectator to interlock their fingers and stretch out the two middle fingers, then hold them apart while you 'command' them to touch. They will close on their own — a physical quirk of the tendons, and it works on everyone.

The middle four

6. The disappearing water. Pour water into a paper cup, say the words, crush the cup — the water has gone. Method: a small piece of sodium polyacrylate (from a nappy's inner layer, cut out beforehand) in the cup absorbs the water into a gel. Do this over a table, not a rug, the first few times.

7. The obedient coin through the table. A coin is pressed against the underside of a table and pushed through the top. Method: as you slap the table, the first coin drops into your lap; a duplicate coin was already in the other hand under the table.

8. The card that rises. A chosen card rises out of the pack. Method: the pack sits in the palm, and your little finger, hidden behind, pushes the rear card upward. The whole trick is the angle: perform it facing the audience straight on, never from the side.

9. The 21-card trick. Deal 21 cards into three columns of seven face up, ask which column their card is in, gather with that column in the middle, and repeat three times — their card ends up eleventh. It is arithmetic rather than sleight of hand, and it is the trick almost every child learns first.

The last three

10. The pencil through the note. Borrow a ten-rupee note, push a pencil through it, and show it undamaged. Method: the pencil goes through a fold behind the note rather than through the note itself, and the fold conceals it from the front. Practise the fold until it is instant.

11. The mind-read number. Ask them to think of a number, double it, add ten, halve it, subtract the original number — the answer is always five. Method: pure algebra. Change the added number to change the answer, and never do it twice for the same person, who will spot the pattern.

12. The reappearing knot. Hold a rope with a knot tied in the middle, flick it, and the knot vanishes — or a knotted rope becomes whole. Method: the knot is a slip knot tied so a sharp pull dissolves it. Learn the knot itself first; the performance is easy once the fingers know it.

Frequently asked questions

Q: Why do magic tricks matter for a child? — They build fine motor skills, memory, sequencing and public speaking, and they are one of the few hobbies where a child holds knowledge an adult does not. That confidence is the real benefit.

Q: My child cannot keep the secret. — Common, and it usually passes once they have performed successfully a few times and felt the value of the secret. Give them one trick that is theirs alone and ask them to protect it.

Q: What should we buy? — Nothing to start with. Coins, rubber bands, paper cups, a handkerchief, a pencil and a pack of cards cover everything above. A cheap magic set adds a few props and a great deal of plastic.

Q: How do I react when the trick fails? — Exactly as a magician does: carry on talking, move to the next thing, and never say what was meant to happen. A child who learns to recover from a failed trick has learned something more useful than the trick.