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How to make a magic disappearing box
Ever wonder how a magician can pull a rabbit out of a box or a hat? Most often it's about hidden panels inside the hat or box. The magic disappearing box has another smaller box hiding inside in plain sight, where you can make a stuffed rabbit appear or disappear. Making a magic disappearing box is all about appearances. So it's very important that you don't cut corners.
What you need
• Three cardboard boxes, they should nest inside each other. You also want to make sure the boxes are small enough to fit on a table.
• Black paint. This can be acrylic or spray paint, but you are going to need a lot of the same type of paint.
• Colorful paper or paint for decorating.
• Scissors or an exacto knife — make sure you get help from an adult.
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For your trick, make sure you pull out the middle box and show your audience it has no bottom. Then, place it back inside the large box and take a small stuffed animal or scarf and dramatically put it inside the magic disappearing box. To your audience, it will look like you are putting the scarf in the middle box, but it's really inside the secret black box. Wave your wand! Pull out the middle box! Amaze your audience! (Photo credit Lyz Lenz/The Gazette)
Next, cut a little window into the front of the biggest box. Make sure the window has little slats. You need them for misdirection.
Paint the inside of the largest box all black. Then paint the smallest box black. Make sure when you are painting the smallest box you get the inside and the outside. It has to blend in with the inside of the largest box. For the outside of the largest box, paint it a very bright color or cover it with paper.
For the middle box, cover it with colorful paper or paint it a bright color. Remember, misdirection is key here.
Nest the boxes inside each other. The smallest box needs to blend in with the inside of the big box and the middle box is a fake box that is designed to distract your audience.
First, cut the flappy edges off the boxes. For the middle box, cut the bottom out.
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