KID'S MYSTERY PARTY GAMES
Welcome to my list of kid's mystery party games. Are you ready for a bit of sleuthing, guessing and crime solving?
These party games match perfectly with my Kid's Mystery Part, where I've got some great ideas for invitations, decorations, food and activities.
KID'S MYSTERY PARTY GAMES LIST
DECODER
In advance place some treasure (prizes or candy) in a locked trunk or case and decide a place where you would like to hide the key to the trunk e.g. BUCKET. Then set up 6 activities or challenges. These could be for example throwing ping pong balls into a bucket, walking along a low plank without falling off, hitting the bullseye on a dart board and so on.
Split the kids into teams and tell them that their mission is to find the key to unlock the trunk. To do this they must perform a set number of activities. Each time a team completes an activity, they will be given a letter. Once they have a set number of letters, they must then rearrange them to form a word (in this example BUCKET). That word will lead them to they key. The first team to get the key and to unlock the trunk, gets to keep the treasure.
WHO AM I?
Tape a picture or the name of a well known cartoon character to each child's back so that everyone can see it apart from himself. The kids have to figure out who they are by asking questions to the other guests. However the reply to the questions can only be a "Yes" or a "No".
MINUTE MEMORY
Lay up a tray with about 20 various household items. Sit the kids in a circle and allow them about one minute (or more if you wish) to study and memorize what is on the tray. Remove the tray and see who can remember the most items by writing them on a piece of paper.
MORE KID'S MYSTERY PARTY GAMES
ALL CHANGE
Pick a child to be the detective. Before leaving the room he must study what all the other children are wearing, accessories, shoes, hair styles, jewelry and so on. After exiting the room, one child is chosen as the criminal and has to either swap, put on or remove an item of clothing, jewelry etc. The detective then returns to the room and has to see if he can spot who is the criminal and what was changed. He gets to have 2 guesses and if he guesses correctly then he gets another go. If not he chooses someone else to be the detective.
CRIME SOLVER
This is one of those kid's mystery party games which might be better suited to older kids. In advance write down a scenario of a crime such as a murder or a robbery and identify some possible suspects. Then prepare two sets of clues (about 5 clues will be enough).
Divide the kids into two teams and give them their first clue that will lead them to an object that will help them solve the crime. Attached to the object will also be the next clue and so on. It might be an idea for the teams to solve their clues in a different order so they aren't following each other. Once a team has all the objects, they then have to decide on the scenario that led to the crime. The closest to your version wins.
Example: The crime was the poisoning of a French actress named Edith on a train travelling from London to Paris. The main suspect is a waiter from the buffet car.
Clues might be : Lipstick, film script, train ticket, handkerchief with the letter E on it, English-French dictionary, buffet menu, tea towel, bottle of poison and so on.
SUPER SLEUTH VISION
In advance take close up photos of parts of everyday objects or enlarge the images on your computer. Have the kids guess what they are.
TREASURE HUNT
A treasure hunt is one of my favorite kid's mystery party games and is a perfect game to play if you are having a mystery party theme. They are not difficult to set up if you know how.
Here's an Easy Way to Set Up a Treasure Hunt.