ok some don't like card effectsfor kids but there are three that work well for me:

Animated Deck:
http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorde ... hp?ID=5310

I also ad a cheap appearing wand and give it to the child when I make my little friend "Bob" disappear from all the cards!

Card Shark:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorde ... p?ID=10868

This trick is so cute and kids just love it


Color Monte:
http://www.penguinmagic.com/product.php?ID=185
Need I say more.

Card Shark seem cool. However, I wouldn't perform any cards for kids.

"Don't do card tricks for kids" is one of those rules I mentioned in another thread. It's a useful guideline early on in one's experience with planning and developing children's shows, and it's important to understand the underlying principles behind it. However, it's also a rule that can be broken once you become an experienced children's performer and understand what has to be done to make card work entertaining for kids.

I have a selection of card routines which have (and continue to) work very well with kids. You have to choose very carefully, though, as there are far more card tricks that will fall totally flat for kids than there are card tricks that will entertain them -- if, of course, you feel compelled to include card tricks in a kids' show in the first place. I'll almost always choose a humorous, colorful, visual piece of non-card magic over a card trick when developing a children's act; it just so happens I have a few humorous, colorful, visual card tricks that fit into a few of my acts.

I think cards don't work for kids because they don't grasp the suits, numbers and court cards and the patter can be complex. I've had great luck with:

Haunted Deck (with Caspar the Ghost patter)
Cardtoon
ACR having them draw a puppy instead of signing their name.

I've always wondered if card tricks might work better with a deck of Disney cards or Dora the Explorer cards.

I was waiting for you to chime in and say that.. I always said the same rule myself "Don't do card tricks for kids...blah blah..) I usally agree but I have had great reactions on these with kids when they are dining out... A buddy of mine Magic Rob (www.magicrob.com) turned me onto the card shark and man was he correct kids love it! especially when you act out the jaws theme song and give them the card to keep...

Animated deck works alot better with kids than Cardtoon.... Plus when you ad the appearing wand that they get to keep as a gift is great!

Card Shark another great giveaway item... When part of you pay is in tips kids like to have a gift or keep somethin tangible the parents also like that when they hand you 5-20 bucks! thats why balloon twisters work so well. When strolling and walk around stuff, kids love to "get something" these two tricks give that to them!

Good judgement and appropriate material are pretty much what you need to entertain kids with card tricks. Most beginners or kids trying to be kids' performers tend not to have either of those, so you end up with some 14-year-old trying to entertain a group of eight-year-olds with a 10-card poker deal or something like that. *shudder*

For the full half hour of my kids show I just stand there and flourish without saying a word.

Hey BrianationX, I didn't know you did kids shows!

Oh...

IMPOSTER!!!

I felt the need to post something he'd say.

Well if you the words from the great Silly Billy ANY TRICK can be performed well for kids.. In fact in his book he explains a simple ACR card trick..

Really? Well next time I see him I'll ask him the proper way to do the needle thru arm for kids...or maybe the razor blade/Needle and thread from mouth trick...

I guess you haven't heard of one of the greatest childrens magicians in the world Silly Billy? get his book here on Penguin to really learn about how a child mind and thought process works... Great book.

I don't think Silly Billy is close to one of greatest Kid show performers! and I've seen him live.
His book is .....okay not great.

To each there own..... I am not here to make a convert of anyone..


Check out the book anyways:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorde ... hp?ID=6996

You can get a video of him live here:

http://www.penguinmagic.com/specialorde ... p?ID=10452

What People Are Saying:

Seriously Silly is widely regarded as not just the best book ever written for the kid-show performer, but one of the best books ever about performing magic, period, and now he has released a companion DVD. The production values are top notch, and the DVD is very entertaining in unexpected ways. But Kaye's real purpose of the DVD is to teach, and he does it well with a very smart structure...."
-Magic Magazine

"You could fill a book with what I don't know about doing magic for children. As it happens, David Kaye, master of magic for the miniature set, has done just that and far more. He has written a terrific book full of eye-opening ideas about 'how to entertain children with magic and comedy,' as the book's subtitle plainly labels it. Quite possibly the smartest book ever written about that form -- be it hobbyist, part-timer, or full-time professional. But having read it I can assure you that there is no magician on the planet, no matter your specialty, who will not derive immeasurable if unexpected benefit from reading this book."
- Jamy Ian Swiss, Genii, The Conjurors' Magazine

"David Kaye is the real deal. He has been a professional children's entertainer for more than 18 years, and during that time he has performed more than 7,000 shows. David has now assembled his thoughts on kid's show magic in a marvelous book titled Seriously Silly. This book may well become the definitive resource on this type of magic. Seriously Silly is a tremendously valuable book, containing insights that only come from years of experience. For the kid's show performer, it is indispensable. ...highly recommended.
- Michael Close, MAGIC Magazine

"There is no book regarding the performance of magic for adults that is the equal of David Kaye's Seriously Silly. The psychological insight the author has regarding his young audience is staggering. Seriously silly offers lessons in performance and psychology that every performer, whether working for children or adults, can use to greatly enhance their shows. I don't publish many books these days, but I had no choice here: Seriously Silly is the best book ever written on how to perform magic effectively."
- Richard Kaufman