As you probably figured out from the Decoder Scratch Card invitation directions that I wrote about a few weeks ago, my son decided on a spy party theme for his birthday this year. It was a blast from beginning to end. I love a party that lends itself to a story line.
We started by greeting our guests with a check in station where they were fingerprinted and given their identification cards. They also picked up their glasses with super-secret spy writing capabilities (aka. a pen hidden in the ear piece).
Lots of them came in disguise and with an alias already picked out, but for the ones who needed a bit of help I provided a heap of nouns and adjectives for them to choose from. Screaming Eagle and Bald Sam were a few of my favorites.
All of our party supplies are available as free PDF files at the bottom of the page.
The kids then disappeared into the living room to pop balloons while they waited for the rest of the guests to arrive. I can’t tell you how much they enjoyed this stilly simple activity.
After check-in we were surprised to hear a message from headquarters
“Secret Agents, you need to be aware that our headquarters was compromised last night. Highly confidential equipment was stolen, and we have heard that the thieves might be in your area…”
The kids were directed to collect a box of materials from the building next door, but they needed to wind their way through a field of “lasers” on their way.
Inside the box, they found a flashlight, rope, paintbrush, black-light, metal ring (for the coin that I’ll tell you about later) a “top secret” stamp, tape, mystery solution, a truth serum syringe (baby medicine dropper) and a coded message from headquarters.
After winding the paper around the barrel of the flashlight they were able to read the message which instructed them to call headquarters for more information.
“Secret Agents, we have made a troubling discovery… I will need you to search your area for clues. Stay Alert!”
The kids bustled about noisily pointing out the various signs and “secret” codes.
They were interrupted with a loud alarm noise.
“Secret Agents, you have been detected. You will all need to arm yourselves in order to avoid being captured…”
They found a box of pipe fittings and instructions outside the back door and used them to assemble their own blow guns. We used red pom-poms as our “ammunition” and had a fantastic time shooting at targets that I taped to the windows. (Free shooter instructions available at Roots and Wings, and target downloads available at MyTargets.com)
We then intercepted a letter written in invisible ink (white crayon) that the kids needed to figure out how to reveal. They tried several different options including water, heat, and the blacklight. Eventually they discovered that the black mystery solution (diluted tempera paint) worked best.
The message revealed that they needed to see their supervisor for more information. They were then given a code to decipher the meaning of all of the clues taped up around the house and follow the trail of the thief.
After a few failed attempts, they decided upon the right room to search, and came away with a bunch of coins. They then had to figure out which one had the secret compartment (we bought our spy coin on Amazon), and learned that they needed the ring from their box to open it. Inside was a picture of the “most wanted” criminal.
Hunting down the criminal was easy, but getting him to confess took a bit longer. After several doses of truth serum (lemonade) he finally confessed to stealing the coin in an attempt to prevent getting caught.
Our final message from headquarters was one of praise.
“Great job secret agents! You didn’t compromise your identity, and all of the equipment has been recovered… I have sent a celebratory feast for you…”
We celebrated with dinner and a birthday cake written in “mirror code”
You know what I love most about this secret agent boy? He got just as excited about the gifts that thoughtful kids made for him as the toys that he asked for. Good job secret agent!
We sent everyone home with “explosive” pop-rocks and tiny puzzles.
A successful mission on all counts.
If you are having a spy party of your own, feel free to download and use any of the MP3s. All of our printables are available for free too. Enjoy!
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Oh my gosh, I love this! My kids have their own “spy gear” and pretend they are spies all the time. I am bookmarking this post for future use. Genius! Thanks for sharing.
this is such a fantastic idea!! I bet my son would love something like this. He actually has a “spy pen” — it’s a tape recorder – and he likes to leave it places and record peoples conversations. actually, mostly his sisters. ha