Surfing the Net with kids
Abracadabra! Looking to impress your friends with a few magic tricks? Using video and illustrated step-by-step instructions, this week’s selections have magic tricks for all levels of experience. Some are geared strictly for kids, using only common household items such as paper clips and rubber bands, while others use magic supplies such as wands and silk handkerchiefs.
Activity TV: Magic Tricks for Kids www.activitytv.com/magic-tricks-for-kids
With online video, online instructions, a companion printable instruction sheet in PDF, and On Demand viewing for some cable TV subscribers, Activity TV has kids’ magic covered! Magician Ryan Oaks is your host for these instructional videos, which are rated by difficulty level, and organized by categories such as rope tricks and card tricks. Each trick page gives you the opportunity to rate the trick and to submit a comment. With more than a hundred tricks, Activity TV is my magic trick site of the week.
Just 10 tricks are revealed at Richard Robinson’s AllMagic site. Here’s where to find them. Under Movies, you’ll find video instruction for Ball Production, the Mod French Drop, Shuffled Out Aces, and the Swivel Cut. You’ll also find illustrated instructions by clicking on the menu items Cards, Coins, Closeup, Mental, and Stage. These tricks are not specifically for kids, so they are a bit harder than those at Activity TV, and some require special equipment, such as sponge balls or an ESP card deck.
Card Trick Central www.cardtricksite.com/tricks.htm
There are lots of magic tricks revealed at Card Trick Central. Unfortunately most of the instructions are not illustrated, although some do include videos. Divided into skill levels of easy, intermediate, and hard, there’s plenty to peruse, including tricks such as 4 Friendly Kings (I used to know how to do this one!), Easy Eights, and the Hotel. In addition to the card tricks, you’ll also find sleight of hand, math tricks, memory tricks, and self-working tricks where “steps to the trick are so simple to follow, that it almost works itself.’’
Classic Magic www.classicmagic.net
Although the writing style and illustrations suggest that Classic Magic is a reprint from many years ago, the magic tricks themselves are timeless. You’ll find illustrated instructions for card tricks, coin tricks, sleight of hand, close up magic (to be performed at a table), and even tricks with rabbits and birds. “The gentleness and docility of the rabbit makes it, like the dove, a favorite with the conjuror, who does not hesitate to produce it from a hat, and to cause it to disappear from, and reappear in, most unexpected places.’’
