While brainstorming at Denny's, my DH and I came up with a name for our Spy Agency. I wanted an acronym like "The Man from UNCLE" but friendly enough for kids. We decided on "Secret Missions In Law Enforcement" or "S.M.I.L.E."
The logo:
The invitations: Folded in quarters so the fold is at the bottom of the file folder.
Front: Case No. is the birthdates of my niece and nephew.
Inside: Coded message read by holding to a mirror.
Decorations: We decorated with balloons and crime scene tape (it pays to have a friend who works at a police station). I was going to cut out shoe prints with my Cricut but we were dealing with a lot of wind and they would have blown away.
The Party:
3:00-3:30 - Sign-in and fingerprinting process (As kids arrive)
I had my mom sitting at the table nearest the entrance and she helped this kids sign-in on an official looking form with the SMILE logo. Each kid then picked a code name - I had printed them out, cut them up and put them in a jar. Some examples of the code names are Ace, Buttercup, Domino, Scorpion, Hawk, etc. Each kid got a name badge with their name and code name on it, in a plastic badge holder on a piece of cotton twine to wear around their necks.
Badges:
Fingerprinting: Because of the wind, we ended up skipping this part. It's too bad because our friend at the police department had got us a big stack of official fingerprinting cards. We also had the washable ink pad and baby wipes for easy clean-up. This may have taken too long with all the kids we had too.
3:30-4:15 - Spy Training
This took a lot of help from parents and adults at the party. We split the kids into 4 teams (Red, Yellow, Blue and Green). I cut pieces of colored cloth for each kid to tie around their arms so we could keep them in the right teams. Each team was assigned an adult "Team Leader".
Activities: Teams were given 5 minutes at each activity to train for the Final Exam. We assigned one adult to each activity to help explain what to do. I gave them license to conduct the activity however they wanted.
Physical Training – Part 1 - Stretch and jog around the yard
Physical Training – Part 2 - Laser Field – cross the field without touching the "laser" - yarn tied around stakes in the ground with bells. (Think "Entrapment")
Communication Training - Listen to a story (or riddles) and solve them.
Weapons Training – Part 1 - Grenade toss – toss grenades into buckets (Foam grenades)
Weapons Training – Part 2 - Target practice – shoot down targets with water gun
Mastering Disguise - Dress up relay race - When you say "GO" the first player will run to the suitcase, quickly put on 3 items, and run back to tag another player. The next player, takes a turn and so on until all team-mates have had a turn.
4:15-4:30 – Final Exam
Team leader chooses one person on their team to run each leg of the race (best in that activity). As they complete each activity, they get a puzzle piece from the Adult Activity Helper. Bring puzzle pieces back to team leader. When they have all 6 pieces, the team puts together the puzzle. First team done wins. (Their prize was that they got to "Graduate" first.
Puzzle: I printed each puzzle and then cut the pieces on my Cricut. I also cut a piece of foam and then glued the paper pieces to the foam pieces.
4:30 – Graduation - Pass out Certificates and Spy cases
While the kids were doing the activities, I had my mom write the names of the kids on the Certificates and Spy Cases. Before the party, I had the birthday girl and boy sign each of the certificates. The Certificates were small enough to fit into the Spy Cases.
The Spy Cases were pencil boxes which contained a note pad, pencil, play camera, magnifying glass, puzzle, Chinese finger cuffs, disguise glasses with nose, gum (to be a gum-shoe), Life Savers and Smarties. They had a label on the top for the kids names.
4:45 – Cake & Open gifts (Cake had disguise glasses on it)
The party was a great success. Everyone had fun. Maybe next year we'll have it indoors so we don't have to contend with the wind.
