Detective Party Preview This page is designed to explain the party in more detail- it s a great party but it has a few pieces to keep straight. INVITATIONS: To edit in your party particulars on the invitations, you need Adobe Reader 5.1 or higher (the download is FREE). As this preview is not printable, any version of Adobe Reader will work for now to check out the invitations. See how simple it is to edit in your party particulars on page 3. GAME #1: Who Am I? In this first game, each child gets a label of a TV or movie character (or any other set of characters you might choose) placed on their back, and they have to figure out who they are by asking each other yes/no questions. You ll be choosing and printing your labels from a list of suggested characters- label formats are provided. A sample of the label formats are shown on page 6 of this preview. Directions: On arrival, gather all the guests in one room. Explain to them that they are about to play a game that will sharpen their detective skills, and that they will need those skills to help the birthday child later in the party. Line them up shoulder to shoulder, in a room with no give-away mirrors, all facing the same way as you explain they are NOT to look at each others backs until you give the OK. Place a sticker on each child s back while you explain the rules. They can ask each other questions that have ONLY a yes or no answer to try to discover who they are. As they see the other kids labels, they will get ideas about questions to ask. Once they know who they are, they should tell you. Even after they discover who they are, they should continue to play and answer other kids questions until everyone has solved their case. You may wish to award a prize to the first to get their identity- like a cool pencil to use in the second game. -This should take 20-30 minutes. Settle them all down after the Who Am I? game so you can move on to: GAME #2: The Hunt This game is a glorified treasure hunt packaged up as a mystery where the kids have to figure out the identity of the ghost, and who did the dastardly deed based on fingerprint evidence in order to bring the ghost back to life for cake and ice cream. The Premium Package contains an official looking Fingerprint Card for taking their own prints and comparing them to the evidence that then doubles as your party favor for them to take home. (The Premium Package also includes Thank You Notes to either print as is (with your gift description edited in) OR to use with either a paper print or a digital photo on the front. You ll be hiding 1 clue per child around your house. The clue envelopes are addressed to each child in an anagram puzzle that you will make from the letters of their name. Once they figure out the anagram puzzle and know who the envelope is addressed to, that child reads the clue aloud to the group, and off they run to the next location. READING THE CLUE ALOUD IS THE ONLY THING THEY DO INDIVIDUALLY- EVERYTHING ELSE IS DONE AS A GROUP. For parties in excess of 15 kids: Use teams of 2 for the clue envelopes, creating anagrams (1- Easier) using each child s first and last name and putting both new jumbled names on the clue envelope, or (2- More Difficult) using each child s first names to create one jumbled new first and last name for the envelope. In the Anagram Instructions I give you a website that will turn any name into something like 100 different anagrams, so this is easy. IMPORTANT NOTE: If you get a no-show or two, no problem. Just use the following tricks to get to your chosen number of clues: 2 clues for the b day child- each with a different anagram on the envelope.
A clue for you outside the box thinking A clue for a sibling The dog A blank that whoever finds gets to read aloud to the group Basically, anything at all will work. You ll also be making and hiding (1) letter clues made out of the birthday child s initials as hints to the identity of the ghost, (2) a not-too-scary murder weapon, (3) (construction paper) blood dribble and drops, and (4) the murderer s fingerprint evidence. I recommend making your birthday child the ghost and you or a sibling the perp as you never know when some other child is going to get all upset about being either dead or a bad guy. Your clue package will explain exactly what to hide where. You will need to choose your clue package according to the number of kids and the hiding places you have available in your home. Once you ve chosen, you simply print this out, stuff them in your clue envelopes and hide the envelopes as per the instructions. Directions: You will need to hide all the clues for this game before the party as indicated in the sheet labeled HIDING THE CLUES (received along with your clue package- i.e. not included here). Make sure all the kids have their flashlights ( it s a good idea to put a sticker with their names on them as they all tend to look alike when it s time to go home). Have the introductory letter ready to read to them and the first clue properly placed under your feet. I recommend having a blackboard or a dry erase board you can carry around after them for their use in figuring things out if they want it. You may also want to give them pencils and paper or a clipboard party gift for them to use. Have several ink pads and paper ready for them to take their fingerprints at the end of this game- a couple of toy magnifying glasses would help them in doing this. I also highly recommend a box of baby wipes and paper towels so they can get the ink off their fingers immediately before they make a mess. This game starts with you reading them the letter that the Birthday Child got a few days ago- labeled the Introductory Letter. This tells the kids that one of them is a ghost, and what they are to do to find out the ghost s identity, who the killer is, and how the crime was committed. I ve given you two Page 2 s to this letter for you to choose from. The first provides for a surprise blackout caused by your cohort ready to turn out the lights when you reach the BOOM in the letter, AND to turn out the lights in the rest of the house- or throw the circuit breaker. One or two of my customers have reported that this freaked out one of their guests, so I ve provided an alternative in page 2 where you tell them in the letter that everything is pretend and warn them that the lights are going out. You choose which way you want to play this based on your knowledge of the guests. You either need to be standing upon the first clue so it can t be seen while you read, then move off it when the lights go out so they can find it OR just drop it from your hands when the lights go out. Watch out for any child that has trouble reading their clue and be prepared to step in and read it for them. And of course, if they get stumped on a clue, you can help them out. P7 of the preview is a Directory of all the pages you ll be using, and the printing format info. I suggest you print this Directory page so you have all the info you need to print right in front of you and not hidden by your printer s Dialog Box. P8 of this preview is a sample clue.
See how easy it is to create your Detective Invitation Edit in your info below just as you would on any word processing document, - place your cursor over my input, highlight it with a left click of your mouse, delete it and then enter your info. When complete, use the link at the bottom to go to the actual invitation, which will include the info you ve edited in here. For the envelopes, input your return address info, and the first guest/address and print, then enter the next guest/address and print, etc. (None of your info is saved on the Internet- not to worry- only you can see it.) INVITATION Birthday Child s name: (possessive- i.e Name s) ENVELOPE Return Address: Name: Birthday #: Address 1: He/She Address 2: Party address: Guests: Start time Pick Up Time: Guest Name: Party date: Address 1: RSVP Telephone #: Address 2: Comments- i.e. bring a sleeping bag, etc. OR delete to leave blank Here s an example of the little insert designed to fall out of the invitation and get their curiosity going on: This is a copy of the message I got today. I don t know who sent it, But it s got me worried!!! Come and Help Me!!! SEVEN WAS HEAVEN, BUT EIGHT MAY NOT BE SO GREAT UNLESS YOU AND YOUR BUDDIES CAN WORK AND STUDY TO DISCOVER MY FATE- BEFORE IT S TOO LATE! Increase the magnification of the page if needed to read this little ditty. See p3 to view your input from above on the invitation and p4 for the envelope. Custom Printed invitations like this would cost almost as much as thewhole party package! And they re guaranteed to get the kids all excited your party! This is yours to use FREE if you d like.
It may be th birthday but something is going to happen and needs you here to help! SO- Come to our house at Please let us know if you can come Bring a flashlight and any other detective gear you have. www.birthdaypartygameslady.com
sgt. Detective
Label Formats for Who Am I? Game Choose from the top 2 where your universe of characters are from TV shows, from the next two for movie characters, or the last one for any other set of characters. You will edit it the character names from a suggestion list included in the party package (or characters of your own choosing) just as you edit in on the invitations.
The DIRECTORY to all the pages is listed below. I suggest you print this page (p4) so you have all the info you need to print right in front of you and not hidden by Acrobat s Printer Dialog Box. A lot of these pages are instructions to read, not necessarily to print, so DON T just print everything out- you ll be wasting a lot of ink. And use Adobe s Zoom In function as necessary to make it all easier to read. Page # Content Print Paper size Hints Layout 5 & 6 Invitation Directions Portrait 8 ½ x 11 You ll EDIT from here 7 Invitation Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print in Color 8 Envelope Portrait #10 Envelope Print in Color 9 Insert for 7/8 Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print in Color 10 Insert for 8/9 Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print in Color 11 Insert for 9/10 Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print in Color 12 Insert for 10/11 Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print in Color 13-15 Introductory Letter Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print 1 in Black 16 Murder Weapon Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print 1 in Color, Paste to Posterboard and cut out 17 Blood Dribble Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Print 1 then cut out of red construction paper- cut drops for the floor as well 18-19 Initial Clue Instructions and Initial Clues Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Input and Print 1 copy of p19 (black) then cut out of Pink, Green, Purple, Blue and/or Black construction paper (see instructions) 20-21 Anagram Instructions Portrait 8 ½ x 11 22 Anagram Worksheet Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Save for use on envelopes 23 Clue Envelopes Portrait Invitation Envelopes 5 ¾ x 4 3/8 24 LABELS DIRECTORY 25-31 Character suggestions and labels Choosing Party Size & Hiding Places PREMIUM PACKAGE CONTENT: 32 FingerPrint Rap Sheet Party Favor 34 Thank You Notes Envelopes Print as per p34 38 Happy Birthday WebCard Just for Fun!! 39 Links to Party Favors- Optional for purchase set custom paper size to postcard 4x6 Portrait 6 x 4 (postcard) Avery #05454 labels Print in Color Portrait 8 ½ x 11 Card Stock (1 per guest) 8 ½ x 11 Invitation Envelopes 5 ¾ x 4 3/8
Sample Clue The first clue is ALWAYS the easiest to find They re going to get tougher, but never you mind. And I know you thought the rhymes would go away But you ll just have to suffer till the end of the day! I m going to make you guys rhyme as well. Find the right rhyme and it will tell Where you should look for the very next clue. Here s the words: Sue, too, toes and blue. Now one word doesn t rhyme, it s all wrong! Which one is it- and don t take too long. Think where that word is usually found- All sweaty and stinky and wiggling around. That place rhymes with the other three words. Sometimes it gets caught and you fall on the curb. Go find one of these and you ll have your next tip Now hurry along, but be careful- Don t Trip! Return to Detective Party Page