Easy Card Tricks for Kids and Adults

Everyone can benefit from knowing a few card tricks. While there are a ton of reasons kids should learn magic tricks, they’re also great for adults too. Simple card magic tricks are one of the best ways to break the ice and impress friends and family at your next family picnic or card game night.

How do you learn card magic tricks?

Contrary to popular belief, magicians reveal their secrets all the time. You just need to know where to look. You don’t need to be a professional magician like David Blaine, Dynamo or Michael Carbonaro to start learning the secrets to magic tricks. In fact, most magicians start learning magic tricks with magic books from their local library or a magic shop.

However, you don’t need to break out your credit card to start learning card tricks. We’ve compiled some of our favorite easy card tricks for kids and adults that you can learn for free. They don’t require any sleight of hand or extensive practice.

So, grab your favorite deck of playing cards and let’s learn some easy card tricks!

The Red and Black Card Trick

With just a little preparation beforehand, you can become a real-life Harry Potter with this amazing card trick

1. Before the trick begins, separate a deck of cards so all the red cards are on the top and the black cards are on the bottom.

2. Spread the cards out face down and ask your spectator to choose a card. Make sure to pay attention if it comes from the bottom half or the top half.

3. Have them remember the card and then fan the half of the deck that they DIDN’T originally take the card from so they can put the card back.

4. Now, look through the cards with the faces toward you and find the one playing card with a color that’s out of place.

5. To add a touch of drama, take their card out and place it face down on the table or their palm.

6. Ask them to say the card they chose out loud for the first time and then let them turn the card over themselves.

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I Can Read Your Mind Card Trick

This fun card trick uses a powerful magic secret called the “key card” to convince your audience that you have the power of telepathy and can read minds. You don’t need to be a famous mentalist or learn cold reading to pull of this easy mentalism trick

1. Have your spectator shuffle the cards.

2. Fan the cards in your hand or ribbon spread them on the table to show that all the cards are fairly mixed. (With a little practice, you could also pressure fan the cards.)

3. While you do this, secretly memorize the card on the face of the deck (which will be the bottom card when the deck is turned back face down). This is your “key card” and the secret to this card trick.

4. Square the deck and hand it to your spectator face down.

5. Tell the volunteer to cut the deck and place the top half on the table.

6. Then, instruct them to take the card from the top of the deck in their hands and memorize it before placing it face down on top of the pile on the table.

7. They should then place the remaining cards in their hands directly on top of everything. This loses their selected card in the middle of the deck (while secretly putting your “key card” above their card in the deck).

8. Look them in the eyes and tell them to silently scream what card they chose in their head. Don’t rush this moment, really look like you’re straining to pick up their thoughts.

9. Once you’ve “read their mind”, spread the cards in your hand with the faces toward you. Look for the key card. The card to its right will be their card. Dramatically reveal that you’ve read their mind by confidently pulling it from the spread.

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Spectator Cuts to the Four Aces Trick

With this classic magic trick, your volunteer becomes a magician that is able to find the a four Aces on their own.

1. Start with the four aces secretly on the top of the deck (do this before the trick starts). With a little practice, you can even learn how to riffle shuffle the cards without disturbing these top four cards.

2. Instruct your volunteer to cut the deck into four separate piles of roughly the same size. Make sure to follow which pile has the Aces on top.

3. Point to one of the non-Ace piles and ask the person to pick it up, take three cards from the top of the deck and move them to the bottom of the deck.

4. Then, have them place one card on the top of each of the other three piles.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 two more times with the other non-Ace piles. This will leave the last pile with three random cards on top followed by the Aces.

6. Have them repeat steps 3 and 4 one more time. This will distribute one Ace to each of the other piles and leave the last Ace on the original pile.

7. The rest of the trick is just acting. Emphasize how the cards were “fairly shuffled and mixed” and that the “spectator did everything”. Remind them that you never even touched the playing cards.

8. Let your volunteer turn over the top cards of each pile and reveal they’ve magically found the Aces.

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Magic Spelling Card Trick

This is a fun card magic trick that requires no preparation. It’s completely impromptu and self-working. You can even borrow the deck of cards from a friend if you forgot your. The best part is that all the magic happens in their hands.

1. Allow a volunteer to shuffle the deck.

2. Tell them to start dealing three piles of three cards. The rest of the deck can then be put to the side.

3. Allow your volunteer to choose any pile and flip it over end-for-end. They should then look at the bottom card and memorize it. This will be their “MAGIC” card. (It’s ok if you see this card).

4. Turn the pile back over and assemble all three piles into one pile, making sure that the pile with their “MAGIC” card is the top pile.

5. Now they are going to spell out the suit and value of their chosen playing card in a special way. We will use the Queen of Hearts for this example, but you would follow the same steps for any card.

6. First they will spell the value of the card—in this example, “QUEEN”—dealing down one card from the pile for each letter: Q-U-E-E-N. Once they’re done, they should drop the remaining cards in their hand on top of the cards on the table all at once.

7. They repeat this process with “O-F” dropping the remaining cards on top when they’re done. And then once more for the playing card suits—“H-E-A-R-T-S”—again dropping all the remaining cards on top when they’re done.

8. Take a moment to remind them how impossible this trick is.. They mixed up the cards, they chose the pile and they held the cards. Had they made a different choice, like a “DIAMOND”, for example, the amount of cards they dealt would have been totally different.

9. Now have them deal the cards to spell out the word “M-A-G-I-C”. When they flip over the “C” they’ll be amazed to see they’ve found their own “MAGIC” card.