Detective Mystery Party for a 9yo boy... can I crowd source some ideas???

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

So, I want to throw a murder mystery style party for my son and his friends for his 9th birthday.  

 

In order to be slightly more age-appropriate, I will set up the following scenario:

 

- Guests arrive, and get snacks.  After snack, I announce that one guest has unknowingly just been poisoned by another guest.  We must hunt for clues to find out who has been poisoned and by whom, in order to administer the life-saving antidote in time.  

 

Then, they'll go on a hunt for clues through the house, and each clue should lead to the next, until we find out who is the poisoner and who has been poisoned and give the antidote.  And... that's where I've gone a bit fuzzy.  :-D  I need some clue ideas!  I've never actually been to a murder mystery party, and am not sure how to proceed.  I was thinking I could slip notes to some of the kids throughout the party (like to the poisoning victim to start acting strangely or something) but am not sure.  These are going to be 7-12 year olds, so it can't be too complicated.  

 

I was planning to do a warm-up activity with some guessing (like that game where you have the card on your forehead and can only ask yes-no questions to figure it out, only they'd all have cards on their heads at the same time...) or something similar.

 

I'm usually pretty good at throwing theme parties, but I'm coming up a bit short!!!   

[PeterPan]

Ooo, I actually did this!  I didn't write the clues and things myself though.  We used a kit.  And it was fun, because it come with more complicated puzzles, etc., even food ideas!  

 

Mancy Crew - detective themed non-murder mystery party

 

Here, I think this one is what we did, but really all the party kits at this site look fun!  There was nothing objectionable (we were using it for the targeted ages), and it just made it a ton of fun.  It included games too.  They were witty, not too hard to pull off.

 

We did a Princess Bride party last year without a kit, just making it ourselves.  It was fun too, but really the kits were great and just more sophisticated than what I could have figured out on my own for a mystery party.  I'd like someday to do an older target age one, like when my dd and her chums are all 18-ish, hehe.  

 

Adding: Don't forget to check pinterest.  You'll find a boatload of ideas there.  People are crazy creative.  I made my own pinterest board piecing things together.  It was kind of fun too, because I could make games based on the attendees interests.  Now I don't know for murders.  With the kit, all the puzzles and sleuthing were there.  For Princess Bride, I did quizzes with powerpoints that I loaded onto youtube.  That way you could put it on the tv and everyone could see.  That was really fun, because then they could record their answers in their party booklet, etc.  We did another thing where words were on magnets (you know, like poetry magnets only this was with words from Princess Bride) and you had to assemble them.  

 

Just as a total aside, if this is for boys, I would probably take some time at the beginning, after they eat their snacks, to become official police, with badges, IDs, fingerprinting, swearing in.  You could get all the stuff for that at Dollar Tree.   :)

Edited January 13, 2016 by OhElizabeth

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Ooo, I actually did this!  I didn't write the clues and things myself though.  We used a kit.  And it was fun, because it come with more complicated puzzles, etc., even food ideas!  

 

Mancy Crew - detective themed non-murder mystery party

 

Here, I think this one is what we did, but really all the party kits at this site look fun!  There was nothing objectionable (we were using it for the targeted ages), and it just made it a ton of fun.  It included games too.  They were witty, not too hard to pull off.

 

We did a Princess Bride party last year without a kit, just making it ourselves.  It was fun too, but really the kits were great and just more sophisticated than what I could have figured out on my own for a mystery party.  I'd like someday to do an older target age one, like when my dd and her chums are all 18-ish, hehe.  

 

Nice!  I got the whole idea from reading a similar website (party game lady) but the price seems a bit high!  That's why I'm hoping for homemade...  If I really can't scrape it all together, I will get a kit!

[PeterPan]

Hehe, keep seeing what I added.  Yeah, the price, the price.  But our time is worth money too!  But really, are any of the kits age-appropriate for your group?  We thought the kit was fun.  Everyone took on a character, so they got to explore their dark side, hehe.  There was this funny moment where we're all sitting at the table and they all suddenly realize any of them could be the thief!  That was funny.  

 

Their milkshake recipe was good, and the extra games were good.  It was a help with the flow too.  But not every party has to be like that.  But definitely milkshakes and any food from a movie or book with your theme.  Like if you're gonna do mysteries, you could riff a Sherlock...  That would even give you something to google!  Like Sherlock b-day parties for boys.  Then they could all have the fun hats, hehe.  Someone could get stuck being Lastrad.  You could all be characters even.  Or maybe you tweak the names so they don't recognize the plot and what's happening.  The Hounds of Baskerville could be fun if you have a dog in the yard.  

 

I don't know, off on a tangent there, lol.  Sherlock is so popular right now, that could work.  Can you imagine?  Like Sherlock and Moriarty are hanging out, so let's eat lunch while we hang with Moriarty?  That would be wild, lol.  What would they eat?  So intense.  :D

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

I'm googling like mad as we speak.  :-D  I see some ideas that could be more of a Carmen SanDiego type spin- in order to find the next clue, they must get to the correct location first (hang country outlines on the doors throughout the house...)  

 

Thinking... thinking... 

 

They could find torn up train tickets, plane tickets, maps...  

 

Things are beginning to take shape in my mind...  LOL

[Monica_in_Switzerland]

Or a Clue (board game) style party!