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Help me throw a Mystery/Puzzle/Treasure Hunt party


kirstenhill
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DD11 wants a mystery-puzzle solving-treasure hunt sort of party for her 12th birthday.    She doesn't want a "murder mystery dinner" sort of party where everyone acts or plays a character.  Not a "crime scene detective" sort of thing.   Not just a simple treasure hunt with a couple of lame clues like I've made for her little brothers' parties.  :laugh:   She would like a bit of a plot/storyline with puzzles, clues, riddles, etc to solve if possible. 

 

At minimum, I know I could just find a series of basic puzzles that could point to different locations (a code to crack that points to a spot in the backyard, a rebus puzzle in the backyard that points to the kitchen, a riddle in the kitchen that points to a neighbor's front step, etc.  But I am less certain about how to work a story into it.

 

Some of her all time favorite books are books with a puzzle/mystery/adventure mash-up of some sort -- Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Book Scavenger, Mysterious Benedict Society, Chasing Vermeer, etc.   If a party could have a mystery/puzzle/treasure hunt that would reflect something like a story from a book like this, that would be her dream party.

 

Any ideas for this?  I feel like my googling is just not turning up the right things!

 

 

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If you end up making up your own clues a possible theme is: Puzzle Island

 

Island/luau decorations and food are readily available

 

The story could be searching for a rare animal or buried treasure or a lost artifact.

 

Depending on ages of other kids, a couple ideas for types of clues are:

 

Bin or pile of sand with letter tiles to find and unscramble

 

Make a hole through a fresh coconut(s) 'eye' and put the clue inside (laminated or covered with packing tape) then have the kids crack it open with hammer (supervised)

 

I would want to work in some mentos 'volcanoes' but not sure how to match that with a clue!

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You can google "escape room" and see some of the various storylines used in professional escape rooms, then adapt them for a child audience.  

 

My son had a "Carmen SanDiego" birthday party a few months ago and it was so much fun!  They defused a bomb, solved riddles and puzzles and codes, recovered the stolen items along the way, and ultimately discovered she'd escaped... assembly instructions for an emergency escape ladder and a wide-open window...  but at least they recovered all the stolen goods!

 

Have fun!  His party was a blast.  

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Great ideas...Thanks!  I am starting to feel like I have a few ideas to run with.  Of the books I listed, DD says the one she would most like to base a party theme on would be Book Scavenger, so I think I need to read it to see what I can come up with from that book!

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For my dd's birthday this year, we did a fandom mash-up scavenger hunt. They had to collect the items to use to make their crafts. We did a total of five crafts (which may have been a bit much...it was chaotic and we only ended up with four girls!). Each craft was for a different fandom. We have a large, wooded backyard, so I raked paths through the trees and turned it into "Fandom Forest." They had to follow the clues to find the items....The only open area became the Quidditch field (to find the ball to make a snitch)....The tree house became Mount Olympus to find something for a Percy Jackson craft....and so on.

 

Not sure that's what you're looking for, but maybe it gives you some ideas.

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Some of her all time favorite books are books with a puzzle/mystery/adventure mash-up of some sort -- Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library, Book Scavenger, Mysterious Benedict Society, Chasing Vermeer, etc.   If a party could have a mystery/puzzle/treasure hunt that would reflect something like a story from a book like this, that would be her dream party.

 

 

 

Just wanted to say that my 9yo ds LOVES all of these books and a party with this theme is a great idea!!

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