Spy Party Secret Mission Activity

Each box contains the following items:

• Spy hat – for the commander of the mission to wear
• First clue envelope – this will lead to the next clue
• Postcard decoder
• Password cipher
• Invisible ink pen
• Orange peel (in a bag) 
• Pen
• Mirror
• Moustache for disguise

The children take turns being mission commander and wearing the hat, so that every child participates in the activity. All other secret agents help the commander solve the current clue and find the next one.

Below is a list of 10 clues. You can use them as is, edit them, use only some of them, or add more – it all depends on your preferences and how long you want your party to last.

Clue 1

Simply print out a description of the next hiding place (such as “Look under the middle cushion of the sofa” or “Go open the closet door and look on the inside of it”) and cut it into pieces, making a puzzle. The kids put the puzzle pieces together to find the next hiding place.

For this clue simply write directions to the next hiding place using an invisible ink pen. The kids use the light of the invisible ink pen that is included in their spy box in order to read the clue.

Clue 3

These nasty criminals may think they have won
But you, secret agents, will show them how it’s done!
The crooks hid the next clue inside a blue balloon
But use the orange peel juice to pop it, and you’ll move on soon.

This clue is quite cool, as it involves some knowledge of science. Explain that only secret agents know that the limonene in an orange peel will pop a balloon. The young secret agents use the orange peel in their top-secret mission box, squeezing it on the balloon, to pop it. They find that inside it was clue number 4.  All you have to do is peel an orange, print out the directions to the next clue, put them inside a blue balloon (or any colour balloon, just change the text in Clue 3 above) and let the kids blow up the balloon. 

I used this trick many times before. Watch how it's done here:

Clue 4

Secret agents, how extremely well done!
You now need a mirror to solve this next one.
Wow, you’re getting closer, we’re so proud of you
In the corridor you will find your next hidden clue.

You will need to print the last 2 lines in mirror / reverse text and let the kids use the mirror in their spy box to read the text and find the next hiding place.

Here is a simply explanation how to do so in Word: https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/reverse-mirror-text-microsoft-word/

It should look like that (try cracking it with a mirror):

I hid Clue 5 in the corridor, but you can change the hiding place to anywhere you’d like.  

Clue 5

The next clue is hidden under something with 4 legs.
To solve it you’ll have to think hard and use your heads.
To narrow things down just one tiny bit,
This clue is hidden under a place where we sit.

This clue was intended to be very general and make the kids search everywhere around the hall (or your house) for a chair that has a clue glued to the underside of the seat. It was quite fun and great team work, as all the kids collaborated to search in different places, in order to find this specific chair with the clue.

Clue 6

Secret agents you are almost done
Answer all the questions one by one
Combine the first letters of each answer
To find your next secret clue faster

Here the idea is to make the birthday boy/girl the centre of attention. Ask some questions about the birthday girl/boy (toys they like, favourite class at school, etc.) in a way that all answers combined lead to the new clue.

Clue 7

Secret agents you must move fast without fear
The criminals’ mates will soon be back here
Compare the 2 photos, have a close look
The difference will tell you where next to look

Clue 7 is also very fun and you can think of many ways of doing it. Take 2 photos of the same thing. The two photos are identical, except for one difference that should give the young agents a clue about the next hiding place. I took 2 identical photos of my kids, except that in one of them the birthday boy’s brother wasn’t wearing a coat. The next clue was hidden in his coat pocket.

This is my kids trying to have serious spy faces

Clue 8

Secret agents, you guys really rock!
You are going to give the bad guys a shock
If you place the postcard decoder on top of this card
Finding the next hidden clue shouldn’t be hard

Okay, this clue is also very cool. You’ll need to create a word cloud that also contains the hiding place of your next clue. Then create a postcard decoder -- a piece of paper with bits of it cut out in the right places, so that when it is placed on top of the word cloud it reveals the directions to the next hiding place. In the image above, the word cloud is on the right and on the left you see how it looks when the postcard decoder is placed on top of it. This is how they found out that their next clue is under the middle table.

Clue 9

You have 10 minutes left till the crooks will appear
You can finish this quickly, secret agents, have no fear
Use the secret cipher to find your last clue
It has a shape of a rectangle and when you leave, you’ll go through it too.

Clue 9 is a sort of a riddle to direct them to the entry (of the hall/your house, this could be change to any other place you wish). They will need the password cipher to decode part of the message (the word ‘leave’ encrypted in the message above). Once they decode it, it will be clear that the next hiding place is the hall/house entry.

When you create the encrypted text use the Gallaudet font to create the encrypted words. The kids will use the password cipher card in their box to decode the encrypted words.

Clue 10

You made it secret agents, you have the key!
Now wait for your fellow agents a minute or three
Because in order to frighten the criminals and scare them away
You all must shout out loud: Happy Birthday <childname>! Hurray!

That's it, they did it! You can hand out the goodie bags that they found.