Talking calculator magic trick

Calculators are a great tool for simple "magic tricks." Just get your child to follow the steps below and you have an easy magic trick that will impress friends.

What you need:

• a calculator

Number of players:
1+

Activity:

Tell your friend that the calculator wants to talk to them and that the code numbers for the calculator to start talking are: 0.7734. Turn the calculator upside down. It will say: HELLO

Then get the friend to ask these questions. Use the calculator to get the answers.

• What is your name, calculator? Answer:  7718 – turn it upside down – BILL
• What is your job, calculator? Answer: 5508.918 – turn it upside down – BIG BOSS
• Who do you work for? Answer: 710.77345 – turn it upside down – SHELL OIL
• How big is the building where you work? Answer: 4614 – HIGH

Tips and hints:

Here are the corresponding numbers and their letters to make up more words for your talking calculator:

• H =4 E=3 L=7 I=1 O=0 B=8 G= 9 or 6 S=5
• A decimal point will give you a gap between words.
• If the word ends with O, you will need a decimal point after the 0