Mind reading tricks for kids

What a prediction is

Prediction and mind reading is the biggest kind in the shop: the magician knows the number, the card or the choice before the audience does. Almost every one runs on arithmetic that always lands in the same place, so it works every time without a secret move.

That makes them the best tricks for nervous performers and the best for a whole room, since everybody can play along in their heads. Each one has a why-it-works box, and working out the why is half the fun from about nine.

By level, 16 Apprentice (works the first try) and 13 Conjurer (a little practice). They come off 4 shelves of the shop, most from The Mind Reader's Corner (15) and The Card Cabinet (8). What you need most often: paper (10), cards (8), a pencil (7), and 5 tricks need nothing at all. None has a step only a grown-up can do, and 5 tricks carry the choking note for brothers and sisters under 4. The quickest to learn is The Answer Is Always 3 (2 minutes); the longest is The Instant Magic Square (20 minutes).

Every trick there is falls into one of eight kinds. How magicians do a prediction is in our post on the eight secrets behind every magic trick.