Detective Theme Party Ideas

Birthday Bash Tips for Your Little Crime Solver, Spy or Sleuth

© Diane Laney Fitzpatrick

Jul 6, 2007

Kids of all ages love to play detective. Make your child’s next birthday party a real whodunit, with a celebration themed around his favorite spy or crime solver. These ideas can be adapted for party themes for Men in Black, police squad, spy, secret agent, mystery solver, Harriet the Spy, Sherlock Holmes, Scooby Doo, Nancy Drew and lots of other contemporary interests.

Invitations

Start the detective fun right away with invitations that get party guests’ minds working.

• Write the party details backwards and guests will have to hold the invitation in front of a mirror to read them. Or write the invitation in code and put the key on the back of the card.
• Send invitations in manila envelopes with “Top Secret” stamped all over them.
• Make invitations that are like a police case file or mission directives. “Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to come to Nicole’s birthday party . . .” Include a “mug shot” of the birthday child.

Setting the Mood

• Cordon off part of your yard or porch with police tape. Yellow banner tape that says “Crime Scene Do Not Cross” can be found for $14.50 per roll at Copquest, an online public safety equipment provider.
• Draw body outlines up your front walk or on your driveway – wherever party guests are likely to walk – by using sidewalk chalk to trace your child’s body lying flat in different positions.
• Parents dressed in trench coats, hats and sunglasses will add to the fun.

Games

• What Am I? - Cut out pictures of animals from magazines and tape one to each child’s back. Everyone can see what animal he is, except himself. The children take turns on center stage, asking guests questions about what animal they are (“Do I have fur? Am I bigger than a human? Do I live in the jungle? Am I a mammal?”) until they correctly guess their animal.

• Scavenger Hunt for Clues - This game will work for a small group of party guests who can work together as a group. Describe a pretend crime that’s been committed, such as a daisy that’s been picked and can’t be found. Give the group a clue – “it might be in a place where things are cut.” When they look in the shed or wherever the lawn mower is, they’ll find a sheet of paper with another clue written on it. The clues eventually lead them to a big plastic daisy. Use your imagination for age-appropriate clues and silly pretend crimes for your party guests.

• Memory Game - Show the children a picture of a busy street scene or one with lots of people and action going on. Let them study the picture for a set amount of time, about 10 seconds. Take the picture away and ask them questions about the picture’s details. See who can remember the most details.

Food

• Make a detective theme cake by making a magnifying glass: Make a large round cake and line up three or four Twinkies for the handle. Frost the whole thing together with white frosting. Line the edges with black frosting.

• Family Fun has a clever question mark cake idea.

• Serve baggies of snacks in “evidence bags.”
• Put a different letter on each brownie and mix them up on a tray. Have party guests scramble the brownie letters to spell a secret message.

Activities

• Make a Secret Message with Invisible Ink. Give each child a toothpick and a small cup of lemon juice. Soak the ends of the toothpicks in the lemon juice for a few minutes to soften the tips. Write a message with the lemon juice on plain white paper, dipping the toothpick back into the lemon juice as often as needed. The message will dry clear and invisible. To read the message hold a hot iron near the paper and the writing will turn brown and be visible.
• Make a Wanted Poster out of a large poster board with a hole cut out for the mug shot face. Have each birthday party guest put his face in the hole and have his picture taken as part of the Wanted poster. Use a digital camera and photo printer to make the prints and hand them out at the end of the party, or send the photos with your child’s thank you notes.

Goody Bags and Prizes

Giveaways to party guests can include puzzle books, a small magnifying glass, a Sherlock Holmes plastic pipe, secret message tablets, a disposable camera, paperback books of Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys, binoculars, fake mustaches and other disguises.

Little Detective

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