🏁 Race to 100

Race to 100 for kids: the whole trick

You challenge a friend to a race to 100: take turns adding any number from 1 to 10 to the total, and whoever says 100 wins. You win. You play again and you win again, however hard they try. It's a level 2 conjurer trick for ages 7 to 12 (grades 2nd–6th), takes 10 minutes to learn, and needs 2 things you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.

The secret

Go first and say 1, then whatever your friend adds, you add the number that makes 11 with it. That puts you on 12, 23, 34 and so on up to 89, and from 89 nobody can stop you saying 100.

What you need

• A sheet of paper
• A wooden pencil

How to do it

1. Tell your friend the rule: each turn, you add any number from 1 to 10 to the total.
2. Whoever says exactly 100 wins. Keep the total on the paper with the pencil so nobody loses count.
3. Offer to go first, as if you are being kind. Say "1".
4. Whatever your friend adds, you add the number that makes 11 with it.
5. That lands you on 12, then 23, then 34. Write each one down as you say it.
6. Keep going: 45, 56, 67, 78, 89. From 89 they can't reach 100, and you can.
7. Say "100!" Then offer a rematch, go first again, and win that one too.

Magic words to say

“I've been practising adding. Not fast adding: lucky adding. You can choose any numbers you like, and I'll still get to 100 first.”

Pro tips

• Learn the list as a pattern: 12, 23, 34, 45, 56, 67, 78, 89. Each one is 11 more than the last, so the two digits go up together.
• Don't answer instantly. Pretend to think hard, then say your number, so it looks like luck.
• Once a friend works it out, whoever goes first and says 1 wins. Let them win one, then teach it to somebody new together.

If something goes wrong

If your friend lands on one of your numbers first (12, 23, 34…), you can't win this round. Say "well played!" and ask to go first in the rematch.

Safety notes

• Needs a helper.
• Sit at a table.
• No fire, no flames and nothing sharp in a child's hand anywhere in the Magic Shop. Nothing ever goes in a mouth, a nose or an ear.

Why it works

11 is one more than the biggest number anyone may add. Whatever your friend adds, from 1 to 10, you can always add enough to make 11, so every two turns the total climbs by exactly 11. Start on 1 and those elevens land you on 12, 23 and so on, and the last one lands on 100.

What kind of trick is this?

🔮 Prediction. You knew all along, or you read their mind. Almost every trick ever invented is one of eight kinds, and knowing which one you're watching is how magicians work out how a new trick is done.

The skill it teaches: Patter: what you say. A trick is a story, not a thing that happens. Perform it and it counts towards the Showstopper badge.

Questions about race to 100

How do magicians read minds?

They don't hear your thoughts. Mind-reading tricks use maths that always lands on the same answer, a secret peek, or a code agreed with a partner beforehand. Magicians who do mind tricks are called mentalists.

What do you say during a magic trick?

The words a magician says are called patter. Good patter tells a small story, asks the audience to help, and then goes completely quiet for one second at the magic moment. Every trick in this shop has magic words to say that you can copy or change.

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• ✏️ The Rubber Pencil Trick (level 1, 1 minute)
• 🪽 The Floating Pencil Trick (level 1, 5 minutes)
• 👻 The Ghost Pencil Trick (level 1, 5 minutes)
• 🎗️ The Jumping Rubber Band Trick (level 2, 15 minutes)
• All 80 magic tricks for kids, the easy ones by age, and how to put on a magic show