1. Fingerprint Art: a great way to start the party! I had half-sheets of cardstock and several different-colored inkpads, as well as markers and crayons, out for the kids to make art with. Jack chose his favorite when we were done, and that person received the first clue.
2. Laser Beam Challenge: When you make it all through, I will give you your next clue. Brian set up a short "laser" course (with orange string) in a hallway. The kids were supposed to maneuver through without touching a laser. They had a blast with this challenge. I so wish I had a picture of it!
3. Balloon Bomb Pop: To stop the bomb, jump on top, and you will find the clue as they pop. There were little slips of paper hidden in a bunch of blown-up balloons. One slip of paper had the clue written on it. The kids popped the balloons any way they could.
4. Invisible Ink Challenge: At first you might not see it; use a little science to reveal it. I wrote different symbols and simple pictures (a sun, star, square, triangle, lightning bolt) on small sheets of cardstock (it needs to be thick) with a Q-tip dipped in lemon juice. The kids then used sponge brushes dipped in grape juice and painted over the top to reveal the pictures. Only one had the letter clue on it.
5. What's Missing? Tray: Use your observation skills to remember what's on the tray, and then what's missing from the tray. I had a tray with about ten items on it: button, rock, a spool of thread, sunglasses, etc. The kids tried to memorize the items. I took the tray out of the room, removed one item, then brought it back. The kid who remembered first which item was missing received the next clue.
6. Guess the Number of Candies: How many candies in the jar? Guess correctly, and you will go far. This one is pretty straightforward. Pretty proud of Jack for guessing closest to the correct number (343) and receiving the clue.
7. Mystery Bag/Secret Keeping Challenge: A great Detective uses all five senses – sight, sound, smell, TOUCH, and taste. Reach in there… do not haste. The kids all reached, without looking, into a bag full of cooked, cold spaghetti. If they were able to figure out what it was right away, they also needed to keep it a secret for all the kids who had yet to take a turn (thus, the secret-keeping portion of the challenge). To my surprise, no one guessed it! They thought it was rice or salad. Kate knew what it was already, and kept the secret, so I gave her the clue.
8. Backwards Words Challenge: You need a mirror to see this clear. Brian used word art to print a bunch of phrases ("do your chores,"etc.) backwards, so the kids needed to look in a mirror to read them. The last kid received the paper with "Your Clue is an O" on it.
9. Baby Food Smelling Challenge: Now that you’re done with that fun, go where all the cooking is done. Time to smell; I wish you well. I gave each of the kids an index card and told them to number them one through six. I then passed around six jars of baby food with the labels taken off. They were to smell them and guess what food it was. Pretty fun!
They then raced there to find the "treasure." Their goody bags contained a magnifying glass, mustache sticker, glow bracelet, little pad of paper, pencil, Scooby snacks, and a clementine orange. I printed out a "Top Secret" emblem to tape on the outside of the bag.
The cake? Nothing special. Just a homemade chocolate cake with orange cream cheese frosting, and black question marks painted all over it.
