Magic tricks for 12-year-olds

Magic at 12

The shop is built for ages five to eleven, so twelve is its top shelf, and the list is short. These are the tricks that still take real work at twelve: the Wizard sleights, the cut-and-restored routines and the mind-reading tricks with the hardest maths. Flick is writing more for this age.

A twelve-year-old who has done these is past the shop's ladder and ready for the next step: a library book on magic, a longer routine of their own, or teaching a younger child. The most useful thing at twelve is a show of four tricks performed until it is smooth.

By level, 10 Conjurer (a little practice) and 6 Wizard (days of practice). They come off 4 shelves of the shop, most from The Mind Reader's Corner (6) and The Coin Counter (5). What you need most often: a coin (5), paper (5), a pencil (4). 1 trick has a step a grown-up does (something hot or a bright light), and 5 tricks carry the choking note for brothers and sisters under 4. The quickest to learn is The Ten Coin Jump (10 minutes); the longest is The Two-Coin Jump (3 to 5 days).

Buying a magic set for a 12-year-old? Read which magic kit, honestly first: most tricks on this page need only what is already in the house.