[Magic] Easy-to-enjoy trick using string figures (Ayatori)
Cat’s cradle you can enjoy with just one string.
It’s a traditional pastime beloved by children then and now—whether you quietly play solo or enjoy two-person cat’s cradle with a friend.
Here, we’ve gathered easy magic tricks you can do using cat’s cradle.
Along with classics like “Finger Escape” and “Ring Escape,” we introduce a variety of tricks that connect cat’s cradle techniques to magic!
Perfect for everyday play with kids or events in early childhood settings—feel free to make use of them.
If you love cat’s cradle, take this opportunity to give them a try!
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[Magic] Easy Tricks Using String Figures (Ayatori) You Can Enjoy (1–10)
String-removal magic using cat’s cradle and scissors
This is a magic trick where a string tied to a pair of scissors comes undone in an instant.
First, tie the string to one handle of the scissors using a method known as a cow hitch or lark’s head.
It might be easier to picture it as the way you attach a strap.
Next, thread the long, dangling end through the other handle, or loosen the knot area and feed the string around the handle in various ways.
Finally, while saying something like, “It looks pretty tangled up, but…,” give the end of the string a pull, and it slips right off.
If you think about it, you’re really just undoing the cow hitch, but the key to making the trick work is to proceed smoothly so that doesn’t get noticed and to use your patter to convince the audience it’s all tangled.
PET bottle opener
@mimikachannel AyatoriMagic tricksbottle opener for PET bottles
♪ Original Song – Mimi-Ga Channel – Mimi-Ga Channel
Let me show you a magic trick using a plastic bottle and a string figure! First, wrap the string around the plastic bottle twice.
Hook the string onto both thumbs and little fingers.
Then, from the right side, loop the string over your middle finger, and do the same on the left middle finger.
Now slip the loops on your middle fingers over the plastic bottle.
When you pull on the slipped-over loops, the string will come off the bottle.
You can do this the same way with a thermos, a glass bottle, a can—try it with different cylinders.
Decorating the plastic bottle and other items makes the making process fun too, so give it a try!
Clockless Magic
A watch slips out of a cat’s cradle! Here’s a mysterious magic trick.
First, thread the watch through the cat’s cradle string.
Hook the string over your thumbs and little fingers, then use the middle finger of your right hand to pick up the string from your left hand from underneath.
Do the same with the middle finger of your left hand to pick up the string from your right hand.
Bring your right and left hands together, then remove all the strings except the one on your right middle finger and your left thumb.
And like magic—the watch slips free from the cat’s cradle! You can do the same trick with a ring instead of a wristwatch, so get creative and give it a try.
Endless thimble
@kouchan_chichi Here’s how to make an endless finger loop with string figures (ayatori). There are lots of tutorials online for making a “finger loop,” but I came up with a way to keep it going endlessly 😆 Not sure if it’s clear—once you finish, it’s also fun to have a friend pull on it 😊AyatoriMagic tricksTranslation#AyanotoriroNobita
Silent audio source
I’ll show you a string figure “Finger Escape” magic trick you can do endlessly! Prepare a string about 3 meters long.
Just like the regular finger escape, loop the knot around your thumb, take it off, turn it upward, and place it onto your index finger.
After you loop it around to your pinky, to make it endless, take the non-knot end and hook it from behind your thumb.
Then, after taking it from the back, twist it upward and hook it from the underside all the way to your pinky.
Keep repeating this.
With about 3 meters, you can make three tiers.
When you release the thumb lock, pull the knot.
In an instant, the three-tier string will slip right off your fingers!
The string comes undone in an instant.
It looks like a tangled, messy cat’s cradle string, but if you slowly pull both ends…
You might worry it’ll just get more tangled and turn into a knotty lump, but even though it seems to curl up, it slips free and returns to a single string—an intriguing magic trick.
It looks difficult, but once you learn how to tie it, it’s an easy trick, so practice and memorize it! For the first knot, tie it with the right side on top; for the second knot, tie it with the left side on top; and then how you thread the string afterward—these three points are the key.
If you can do it quickly, everyone will be amazed!
