This is an amazing trick that is difficult for the audience to figure out, yet it is simple to do with a little preparation. Practice it two or three times yourself and then teach it to your child.
What you need: a deck of cards
The Show: Show the audience the four kings from your deck of cards. Explain to them that these Kings do everything together and do not like to be separated. As much as you try to keep them apart, they somehow always end up together. Disbelievers in the audience? Tell them you will show them what you mean. Place the four Kings face down on top of the deck. Place one King on the bottom of the deck, the next two in the middle of the deck and leave the fourth on top. Show everyone the King on top. Now cut the cards.
Turn the cards face up and give them to a member of the audience. Ask him or her to find the Kings. Sure enough, there they are, all together!
The trick: Before you go in front of the audience, take out the four Kings and fan them out and hold them in one hand. Place two other cards behind the third King from the right (the one that will be second from the top when you turn the Kings over and place them on top of the deck). Make sure you can’t see the two other hidden cards.
Now, when you follow the instructions above, the first King will go on the bottom of the deck, but the next two cards, which you place randomly in the middle of the deck, aren’t Kings at all, but the two hidden cards. So you’ve got three Kings still on top and one on the bottom of the deck. When you cut the cards, placing the bottom of the deck on the top of the deck, all the Kings are together in the middle.
Phew! That’s a lot of explaining for a simple trick. Give it a try and you’ll see how neatly this works.