I have been a student of magic almost as long as I have been a student of mathematics and these two areas of my life have crossed paths throughout my teaching career. I still study both, but am much more interested in how these two worlds fit together now than how they work separately. This page is all about problem solving using mathematically-based magic tricks. The goal is not to expose secrets. Instead, these offer opportunities for students to solve wonderful problems – many with playing cards, but some without.

Magic, if it is performed well, evokes wonder. Teaching, I think, should do the same. One of my favorite things about magic is that many times, the question that follows is, “How did you do that?” Using mathematically-based magic tricks in class to teach mathematics content via problem-solving brings that question into the mathematics classroom – a place it really needs to be.

What you will find below, are magic tricks based on mathematics that can be used to engage and empower students to problem solve and reason mathematically to discover how and why these tricks work. I have used each of these with my classes for years.