Magic Picture: How to Make One. Kids Activities Blog

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We love drawing and the kids love magic- especially when they get to play the magician and impress you with something amazing. My mother got the idea to make this craft, a magic picture, years ago when she saw the basic technique used to illustrate a children’s book. Ever since that time, she has been introducing this simple craft to children and making their jaws drop.

Items to Make Your Magic Picture:

Paper
Scissors
Clear Tape
Washable Markers
One permanent Marker
One Heavy Weight Clear Page Protector

How to Make a Magic Picture:

1. Cut one piece of white paper exactly in half.

2. Cut a page protector to be the same size as the half sheets of paper, but doubled and still connected at the fold.

3. Draw a simple picture on one of the sheets of paper with regular markers. An older child could draw their own illustration; for a younger child, you could draw the outline and allow the child to color it. Their drawing should have a very defined, clear shape. The more colorful, the better!

4. Place the colored picture inside the fold of the page protector. Tape the bottom two corners of the paper to the bottom layer of the page protector sheets. This will hold the drawing in place so it doesn’t wiggle around when they do the tracing.

5. Allow your child to trace the basic shape of the picture with the permanent marker on to the top layer of the page protector.

6. Make a little tab to tape on to the bottom of the blank piece of paper. Label the tab “pull.” Place the blank piece of paper in between the top sheet of the page protector and the paper with the colored illustration.

7. Pull the tab and “magically” turn your black and white picture into a beautiful colored one!

A Book to Incorporate

This activity works really well as a craft to accompany the classic children’s book Harold and the Purple Crayon. You can choose one of the illustrations from the book to draw or one of your own. Use a purple permanent marker to do the tracing. When you pull the tab it is as if Harold’s purple drawings are coming alive!