🧻 The Torn and Restored Napkin

The Torn and Restored Napkin for kids: the whole trick

You tear a paper napkin into pieces, screw them into a ball, blow on it, and open it out. The napkin is whole again. It's a level 3 wizard trick for ages 8 to 13 (grades 3rd–7th), takes 2 to 4 days to learn, and needs one thing you already have. Flick, the shop's rabbit, reads every step aloud with a picture, so a child can follow it alone.

The secret

A second napkin is already screwed into a ball and hidden in the curl of your fingers. You swap the balls as you blow, and the torn one goes where the whole one came from.

What you need

• A cloth napkin or handkerchief with a hem

Get ready, before anybody is watching

1. Screw the spare napkin into the smallest tight ball you can and park it in your fingers before you pick the first one up.

How to do it

1. Hide the spare two napkin, rolled tight, in the curl of your fingers.
2. Show the other two napkin on both sides and tear it in half, then in half again.
3. Screw the pieces into a ball about the same size as the hidden one.
4. Bring both hands together, blow hard, and let the balls change places.
5. Open the whole two napkin out slowly, keeping the torn ball hidden behind it.
6. Put both hands in your pockets as you take a bow, and leave the pieces there.

Magic words to say

“Napkins are very forgiving. Not people, not plates, but napkins, yes. Watch how forgiving. One, two, three, four pieces. And a bit of breath.”

Pro tips

• Practise the swap on its own, without tearing anything, until your hands do it while you are talking about something else.
• Open the restored napkin slowly and never shake it out. A shake drops the ball you are hiding.
• Learn it over a few days. This is the shop's hardest trick and it is worth all of them.

If something goes wrong

If the swap fails, open the torn pieces, look at them sadly, and say "well, it was worth a go". Then do the Linking Paper Clips, which restores something properly.

Safety notes

• Practise in a mirror.
• Only from the front.
• 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.

What kind of trick is this?

🩹 Restoration. Something broken is whole again. 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: Practise like a pro. Ready means ten times in a row without looking at your hands. Perform it and it counts towards the Paper Wizard badge.

Questions about the torn and restored napkin

What is sleight of hand?

Sleight of hand means secret moves made with your fingers, like holding a coin in a hand that looks completely empty. "Sleight" is an old word for skill or cleverness. It takes real practice, and it's one of the best feelings in magic.

How long does it take to learn a magic trick?

An easy trick takes five or ten minutes. A trick with a secret move takes a few days of practice. Here's the rule magicians use: practise until you can do it ten times in a row without looking at your hands, and then perform it.

More from The Paper and String Drawer

• 🕳️ The Hole in Your Hand Illusion (level 1, 1 minute)
• 📎 The Linking Paper Clips (level 1, 2 minutes)
• 🪢 The Instant Knot (level 1, 5 minutes)
• 🚪 Walk Through a Piece of Paper (level 2, 15 minutes)
• All 80 magic tricks for kids, the easy ones by age, and how to put on a magic show