Bill Smith's Sunset Trail Cub Scout RT

Bill Smith's Unofficial Cub Scout Roundtable A compendium of Ideas For Cubmasters, Den Leaders and those who help them. Making your program fun and worthwhile.
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CUB SCOUT
MAGIC, TRICKS AND PUZZLES

Simple tricks for Den Meeting Fun.

3 MAGIC WORDS TO MAKE YOUR PACK OR DEN MEETING A RAGING SUCCESS.

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Last Update: 7/16/03

TONGUE TWISTERS

Jasper the genius genially jogged and jumped joyously.

Ten timid tinsmiths tinned tanks.

Six thick thistle sticks.

Two tired tadpoles tippling tea.

AGE-OLD SECRET

Ask someone to write down the number of the month he was born (January=1, February=2, etc.) . Tell him to double it, add 5, multiply by 50 add his age, subtract 250. Have him read his answer aloud. The last two numbers will tell you his age and the remaining, the month in which he was born.
--My gosh, this works! I was born in August, and you double that which = 16. Adding 5 makes it 21. Then multiply by 50 = 1050. Okay, here we go, this could be a first, I am telling my age. After adding my age the number is 1093. I am not making it that easy; you at least have to figure it out. When you subtract 250 from 1093 you get 843.
Lorie McGraw

AN INTERESTING PUZZLE

Work this out as you read. You'll be surprised by the result.
First of all, pick the number of days a week that you would like to be handed a check for $1,000,000.
Multiply this number by 2.
Add 5.
Multiply it by 50.
If you have already had your birthday this year, add 1755. If you haven't, add 1754.
Subtract the four digit year that you were born.
RESULT: You should now have a three digit number:
The first digit of this was your original number (how many checks you want to receive each week).
The second two digits are your age!!!
It really works. Try it! More important, this is the only year it will ever work!

John Favaro

PICK A CARD TRICK
Prepare for this trick by dividing a deck of playing cards into two piles—one of red cards, one of black. Place them facedown on a table. Ask someone to pick any card from either pile and show It to someone else but not to you. Pick up the rest of the pile the person chose from and put it In your pocket. Ask the person to put his card anywhere In the remaining pile. Now pick up the pile and fan them out without letting the audience see them. Find the card that is a different color from all the others and show it, asking, “is this the one you chose? It will be, of course.

**PICK A CARD TRICK**
Prepare for this trick by dividing a deck of playing cards into two piles—one of red cards, one of black. Place them facedown on a table. Ask someone to pick any card from either pile and show It to someone else but not to you. Pick up the rest of the pile the person chose from and put it In your pocket. Ask the person to put his card anywhere In the remaining pile. Now pick up the pile and fan them out without letting the audience see them. Find the card that is a different color from all the others and show it, asking, “is this the one you chose? It will be, of course.

**MOBIUS STRIP**
	This is a great activity to have for those den meetings when you need a fast filler. See if the boys can guess what will happen when they cut it. LINKS: 1. The Möbius Strip Bellevue Community College 2. Zoom 3. College of Charrleston 4. Escher Woodcut

Another version of this trick.

**MAGIC RUBBER BAND**

Loop one rubber band over the first two fingers of your right hand. Place a second rubber band over the tips of all four fingers, twisting it between each finger. Now grasp the loop of the first rubber band with your left hand bend the fingers of the right hand, and pull it over all four fingertips. When you straighten the fingers quickly, the first rubber band will jump mysteriously to the third and fourth fingers as shown. Make it jump back by repeating the process.

**T-SQUARE PUZZLE**

Cut heavy card board into pieces as shown in the square. Do not cut along the dotted lines. Shuffle the pieces and ask boys to make a T and then a square with them. Keep pieces in the set in an envelope

PRISONER'S ESCAPE

Tie a piece of string around wrists of your “victim” (one of the boys in your den). Loop another piece of string over your victims wrist and tie it to your wrists. You are now locked together. Challenge victim to get away without breaking the string or untying a knot. When he gives up, show him how. Push the center of your string through the loop on the inside of your victims wrist, bring this new loop back over his hand and draw it back through the wrist loop. You will be free. For double fun, tie two victims. together in the same way. See diagram for help on doing trick.

BUTTONHOLER
Make a buttonholer from a tongue depressor or craft stick with a loop of string through a hole in one end of it. The string must be shorter than the stick. Have boys loop string through the buttonhole in another Cub Scout's shirt pocket. The trick is to remove it without untying string.
To attach the buttonholer to the shirt, pull the pocket flap through the loop of the string until the point of the stick can be inserted in the buttonhole and the string drawn up tight. It is impossible to remove the stick in the usual way, since the string is shorter than the stick. Show boys how they can remove it by pulling the string back over the lapel and withdrawing stick, eye first.

THE APPEARING KNOT
Here you hand a spectator an ordinary handkerchief behind his back. You snap your fingers. When he removes the handkerchief, a knot has mysteriously formed in the center.
METHOD: Begin by placing a handkerchief over the hand as shown in Figure 1. Note that end B hangs down lower than end A. Note too that end B is clipped between the third and fourth fingers.
The right hand turns palm down. In the same motion end A is clipped between the first and second fingers, Figure 2. Release the third and fourth finger's grip on end B.
With a sharp downward movement of your right hand, shake the handkerchief off your right wrist. The result is that a knot is tied in the center of the handkerchief, Figure 3.
With just a bit of practice the one-hand knot can be formed instantly. If you have trouble getting the handkerchief to slide off your hand, twist it rope fashion before placing it on your hand in Figure 1 (or use a rope). If the knot is formed in view of the audience, it happens so quickly that it will appear as if you shook the handkerchief and a knot mysteriously formed in the center.

Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3

**THE APPEARING KNOT**
Here you hand a spectator an ordinary handkerchief behind his back. You snap your fingers. When he removes the handkerchief, a knot has mysteriously formed in the center. METHOD: Begin by placing a handkerchief over the hand as shown in Figure 1. Note that end B hangs down lower than end A. Note too that end B is clipped between the third and fourth fingers. The right hand turns palm down. In the same motion end A is clipped between the first and second fingers, Figure 2. Release the third and fourth finger's grip on end B. With a sharp downward movement of your right hand, shake the handkerchief off your right wrist. The result is that a knot is tied in the center of the handkerchief, Figure 3. With just a bit of practice the one-hand knot can be formed instantly. If you have trouble getting the handkerchief to slide off your hand, twist it rope fashion before placing it on your hand in Figure 1 (or use a rope). If the knot is formed in view of the audience, it happens so quickly that it will appear as if you shook the handkerchief and a knot mysteriously formed in the center.
Fig 1	Fig 2	Fig 3

Coin Tricks

COIN THROUGH HANDKERCHIEF OR NAPKIN ON TABLE
This was one of Rosemary Johnson's favorite tricks at the 2001 Jamboree. It comes right out of the Cub Scout Magic Book.

1. For this trick there should be a cloth on the table so that when the coin drops the sound will not be heard. The handkerchief or napkin used should NOT be the thin sort that can be seen through. Place a coin on a napkin that is on a table. 2. Corner A is to be near the table edge near you. Take corner A and fold the handkerchief away from you, bringing A over and about an inch beyond the corner B. The coin is now covered.

3. With both hands take hold of the coin through the handkerchief or napkin and roll both of them away from you. 4. When the roll is almost over to corner A, the corner B will come out on your side. Stop rolling, because B must not go over corner A.

5.Put a finger of one hand on corner A to hold it down. With thumb and finger of the other hand take corner B and draw it back slowly to your side of the table. 6. The coin has disappeared. It will be under the handkerchief. Pick this up, show the coin, and say that it was magic that made it go through.

**MAGICAL LINKS**
Free Magic Tricks	Free Magic Tricks For Kids, Parents and Beginners of all Ages.
Kid's Domain Magic Tricks	Kids love to explore, and these are great sites from all over the web.
Magical Kingdom	I am Charlotte Bear, the Magic Bear of the Magical Kingdom. I'll be showing all the real magical tricks.
Parenting Fair-Magic	Here is a list of the tricks we've brought to you these past two weeks, and links to visit them again. Remember, a magician never tells his audience his secrets!!
Kidzone Magic	Rita and Shelly have contributed a number of fun magic tricks that are easy to do and have really wonderful results. So jump in and learn how to astound your friends!

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		This was one of Rosemary Johnson's favorite tricks at the 2001 Jamboree.			It comes right out of the Cub Scout Magic Book.
1. For this trick there should be a cloth on the table so that when the coin drops the sound will not be heard. The handkerchief or napkin used should NOT be the thin sort that can be seen through. Place a coin on a napkin that is on a table.			2. Corner A is to be near the table edge near you. Take corner A and fold the handkerchief away from you, bringing A over and about an inch beyond the corner B. The coin is now covered.

	3. With both hands take hold of the coin through the handkerchief or napkin and roll both of them away from you.			4. When the roll is almost over to corner A, the corner B will come out on your side. Stop rolling, because B must not go over corner A.

5.Put a finger of one hand on corner A to hold it down. With thumb and finger of the other hand take corner B and draw it back slowly to your side of the table.			6. The coin has disappeared. It will be under the handkerchief. Pick this up, show the coin, and say that it was magic that made it go through.