Help me pull off a magic trick on Christmas morning
December 20, 2011 10:05 PM   Subscribe

"Is Santa real? Wait - don't tell me." My son is 95% sure Santa is imaginary but is enjoying the 5% possibility that Santa is real. His gift has mysteriously changed color - help me blow his mind.

My 8 yo son knows Santa is bringing a red electric scooter because - oops - he stumbled across it in the laundry room where we were charging it up. I gave a lame-ass explanation about how Santa predelivers things that have to charge. The red one may be a lemon, so we purchased a blue one. The red one hasn't been returned yet.

Help me out stage magicians. I want to set up some kind of trick on Christmas morning that leaves him scratching his head and thinking, "woah, maybe Santa IS real!"

Possibly relevant details - we do Christmas at my inlaws so we will be spending the night there on Christmas Eve. There is ample room to hide things, eg, the scooter could be in the garage. My son doesn't care what color things are so blue is not preferable to red or vice versa. He likes to read books about magic tricks so he will likely get a kick out of this.
posted by selfmedicating to Human Relations (21 answers total) 31 users marked this as a favorite
 
Get a big red sack and put the scooter in it. Leave it outside and scatter a broken cookie and a gnawed carrot nearby. On Christmas morning, open all the gifts, but have a big envelope that says, "Dear , I had dropped off a scooter, but the elves recalled it to fix something. I will drop off a new one Christmas morning." When he opens it, have someone make a big thumping noise outside. Run out "to see what was the matter". You won't see a miniature sleigh, but your special delivery will be there.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:28 PM on December 20, 2011 [6 favorites]


(Make sure you don't leave the scooter out overnight or you may lose it.)
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:28 PM on December 20, 2011


Santa scavenger hunt with a twist!

* Open present, find photograph of something in the house (e.g. the refrigerator). Note from Santa: "I stashed something special at your house."
* Inside the refrigerator, there's another photo of another location in the house (e.g. inside the washing machine).
* Repeat this a few more times.
* Finally, there's a photo of the RED scooter in the laundry room. You know, where he found it.
* He goes to the location, expecting the red scooter. After all, he has the photograph!
* But it's not there. In it's place, a final photograph of another plain jane house location (e.g. the office).
* He goes to that location and finds the BLUE scooter, with another note from Santa. "Heard you found the red one I pre-delivered. Had to make a switch."

See what you did there? Gave him a great big head fake and a morning he'll never forget.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:35 PM on December 20, 2011 [8 favorites]


What would be even cooler is that the final location is a picture of the blue scooter under the Christmas tree. While he was gallivanting around the house looking for photographs, you move it into place while he's not looking.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 10:36 PM on December 20, 2011 [24 favorites]


I "tested" the existence of Santa Claus when I was about 8 by leaving several empty milk cartons in the fireplace on xmas eve (the theory being that if Santa were real, he'd squash the empty milk cartons on the way down the chimney).

SURE ENOUGH, on xmas morning, there was a big ass-print squashing the milk cartons in the fireplace, and that kept me going for at least another two years.

(thanks, Dad, for getting your pants covered in ashes).
posted by holterbarbour at 11:45 PM on December 20, 2011 [51 favorites]


I don't have any grand staging ideas, but perhaps you can incorporate some empty blue paint cans? Maybe one accidentally left in the fireplace (sans fire of course) or on the roof that you "find" later? Maybe changing Cool Papa Bell's scenario with a note from Santa saying that he reconsidered and thought blue was a better color for him and that he had his elves paint it?

I think the addition of physical evidence (like paint cans) adds some credence to Santa's presence like in holterbarbour's sweet example.
posted by murrey at 4:53 AM on December 21, 2011 [3 favorites]


Best answer: On Christmas morning, your son unwraps his gift, expecting a red scooter. He finds a blue one instead. He may be confused, but you are utterly baffled.

"But-- but-- I bought you a red one! You saw it! What's going on?"

That's when your son discovers the handwritten letter packaged with the scooter.

Dear Kiddo,

It looks like your parents don't believe in me. That's why they bought you that red scooter instead of waiting for me to bring you presents. Usually that's okay, because it saves me work, but that red scooter was pretty lousy so I replaced it with this much better blue one. I hope you enjoy it, and have a Merry Christmas!

Love,
Santa

posted by Faint of Butt at 5:05 AM on December 21, 2011 [46 favorites]


PLEASE let us know how it goes!
posted by stenoboy at 5:30 AM on December 21, 2011 [7 favorites]


I don't know if this might be helpful, but this site lets you craft a video from Santa. It's really well done, and even my kids who have always known that Santa is a story rather than a real person (and who celebrate Hannukah as well) were like OMG I WANT TO BELIEVE.
posted by mothershock at 6:46 AM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Note from Santa on outside of box with picture of Red Scooter:
Dear Kiddo,
You probably already know that inside this box is the scooter I left to charge prior to Christmas. I've heard you're having trouble keeping the Christmas spirit. To prove that I am who I say I am, I will do a little magic. If you hold this box close enough and close your eyes tight enough and believe in your heart that I am real, I will change the color of this scooter to blue. Unwrap your present and see if I'm real.

Sincerely,
S. Claus

p.s. Go clean your room
posted by blackjack514 at 6:49 AM on December 21, 2011 [9 favorites]


Not directly related, but when I was little my parents blew my mind by making a sooty boot print (work boot + ashes) near the fireplace. You could incorporate that with one of the other suggestions.
posted by birdbone at 7:40 AM on December 21, 2011 [2 favorites]


I love Cool Papa Bell's idea, but blackjack514's letter is making it a little dusty in here, if you know what I mean. You've got to do that. Great question.
posted by Rock Steady at 7:59 AM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Okay, so you still have the red lemon scooter. That's good.

Leave the red scooter under the tree on Christmas morning. Selfmedicating Jr. opens the biggest box under the tree, and whaddya know--it's the red scooter that he knew his parents got for him. "Ok, so maybe Santa's not real, but at least I got this sweet ass scooter."

He takes it for a test ride, and oh no! It doesn't work! CHRISTMAS IS RUINED MOM WHAT THE HELL. But wait... What's that behind the couch? Did you leave that there, Dad? No... Mom? I have no idea...

It's a blue scooter? With a hand written letter from Santa!? AWESOME!!!


As you can see, you'll have to take one for the team in this situation, but that's what you get for leaving the scooter out ;)
posted by tipthepizzaguy at 9:01 AM on December 21, 2011


Better yet, while he's outside testing his broken scooter, leave the blue one IN the fireplace covered in soot, or under the Christmas tree. Leave a note to the effect "Hey Kid, heard your parents dropped the ball and gave you a broken scooter. Here's a new one. Love, Santa"

Make some sort of loud noise, or pre-recorded reindeer/sleigh bell sound effect while he's outside bummed out about his broken scooter.
posted by tipthepizzaguy at 9:11 AM on December 21, 2011


You could do ashy boot prints leading from the fireplace to wherever the scooter is.

Whatever you do, do not write any handwritten letters in your own handwriting--that and leaving the price tags on stuff was a dead giveaway that my parents were behind Santa's deliveries.
posted by corey flood at 9:43 AM on December 21, 2011 [1 favorite]


Corey, clearly your parents did not know to say that Santa's elves sometimes go retail if the prices are better.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 10:36 AM on December 21, 2011


I checked out that site that mothershock recommended. It asks for pics of your kid, your specific location, and fairly personal and/or specific details about them. Maybe I'm sensitive, but I wouldn't do that just for a video from Santa.
posted by lakersfan1222 at 8:36 PM on December 21, 2011


My mother is a graphic designer and once did the most amazing thing of photoshopping santa in front of our christmas tree and my presents, then carving an existing photo out of an old polaroid and put in the photoshopped picture.



She also included a poem she'd written in the style of "Twas the Night Before Christmas," and had a coworker who knew calligraphy write it out with a quill pen.

yeah, she's pretty cool.
posted by _superconductor at 9:25 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: So many good ideas! Thank you! I especially like Faint of Butt's idea of the note saying "Apparently your parents don't believe in me." Because that has a little bit of Christmas magic with a delicious side order of Mom Being Wrong. I will keep you updated on how it goes. I'm encouraged that so many people marked this as a favorite - I was a little worried I'd get a ton of responses saying "Don't lie to your kid, you loser." But this is a pretty imaginative kid so he will like the trickery.

Oh, and the site mothershock recommended is great - the 5 yo younger brother got a personalized message from Santa via his Grammy. The details you put in can be pretty vague - just a first name and state - and he was awestruck. The older brother (the one getting the scooter) then requested a message too, and got one.
posted by selfmedicating at 10:12 AM on December 22, 2011 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Scooter covered in red plastic tablecloth. Note reads: "Apparently your mom and dad don't believe in me since they bought you this red scooter. I want you to teach them a lesson and show that Christmas magic really does exist. Shake my magical Santa ornament in the air and say "True! Clue! Blue! Then take the cover off and enjoy your scooter. Merry Christmas. Love, Santa"

More to follow.
posted by selfmedicating at 8:29 PM on December 24, 2011


Response by poster: Mission accomplished. He didn't seem that impressed with the color change initially, but after a few minutes he said "Wait, doesn't the e100 only come in red?" I said yes (since blue is an Amazon exclusive).

By midafternoon he was telling me he'd peeked under the tree in the wee hrs of xmas morn, and lifted the cloth covering the scooter and he claimed it was red then.

All in all, a great Christmas. Thanks askme!
posted by selfmedicating at 6:00 PM on December 25, 2011 [4 favorites]


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