Two Dice:

The magician gives an audience member two dice, then puts on a blindfold (or closes their eyes really tightly!). The audience member rolls the dice and announces the sum. The magician then predicts the sum of the numbers on the bottom of the dice. (The trick: Using the fact that opposite faces of a die add to 7, we know the opposite faces of two dice must add to 14. Subtract the top sum from 14 to predict the sum of the bottom faces.)

Counting Up:

One way for younger kids to figure out the number on the bottom of the die is to count up on their fingers. Say a 4 is showing on the top. Help your child count up to 7 starting on the next number after 4. Each time they count up, they can hold up a finger. So your child can say, "5, 6, 7," and hold up a finger for each of these numbers: 3 fingers all together. That means the number on the bottom of the die is a 3! Counting up is a way of figuring out how many more are needed to get to 7, and lays the foundation for addition and subtraction.

Taking Away:

Another idea for helping younger kids, similar to the "Counting Up" strategy above, is to start with 7 fingers held up, then take away the number showing on the die. So if a 4 is rolled, your child can put down 4 of their fingers. 3 fingers are still held up. That means the number on the bottom of the die is a 3.

If fingers are too tricky to hold up and put down one at a time, use coins or tokens of some kind. Count out 7 coins on the table. Then take away the number showing on the die.

Fact Families:

Kids who are already comfortable with addition up to 10 can probably perform this trick without fingers or tokens. Ask them to explain how they figured out the math, then take the opportunity to verbalize the arithmetic in different ways. If the die shows 4, your child will need to ask themselves, "4 plus what number equals 7?" Or they can ask, "7 minus 4 equals what number?" This helps build the understanding that addition and subtraction are related. In fact four different equations can be made wit 3, 4, and 7: 3 + 4 = 7, 4 + 3 = 7, 7 - 4 = 3, and 7 - 3 = 4.