Fun little magic game

Packed up all the Christmas decorations today and found an old box of Christmas Crackers that we didn’t use again this year (it was either from last year or maybe even the year before), so I let the girls detonate them all before throwing them in the trash. They adored the pops and little paper crowns, but were even more thrilled to find this funny magic game in one of the crackers. I’d never heard of this thing before and it really is clever.

Print out this image and cut out the six cards.

Have a friend choose a number on one of the cards. Point to each of the cards, one at a time, asking “Is your number on this card?” Any time she says “yes,” leave that card turned up. Any time she says “no,” turn that card over. (The number will almost always, with a few exceptions, show up on multiple cards.) At the end, add the top left number from all cards that are turned up. The total will be her chosen number.

Example: Let’s say I chose 41 on the top left card. My number also appears on the bottom two cards. So if you add together the top left numbers from those three cards you have 32+1+8, which equals 41.

Ro and Ree scream with joy each time this works. Not bad for a box of trash.

PS: Here’s a quick pic from Global Wonderland. The girls found this rock-climbing wall right at the entrance and it far out-wowed the spectacular light designs for them. They made fast friends with the climb operator and he let them go up and down as many times as they wanted. I think he was secretly amused by the tutu-and-glitter-boot climbing attire. We finally had to tear them away after 30 minutes or so with promises of something desserty. And no, we are not getting one of these in our backyard.