Batman Party -5yr- Find the Criminal

We had a Batman party for my son's fifth birthday.

The invitations were a poem I made up about some dangerous villains who had escaped that are threatening to ruin the birthday. The poem said we needed Carson's friends to help "round them up and put those villains away!" 

As each child arrived, I gave them a black cape (very cheap to make!) and a black mask. They could then decorate the mask to personalize it. I had a table with all kinds of stickers - stars, rainbows, alphabet letters, etc. to put on the mask. 

Once all guests arrived, each child was given one end of a string of yarn. The yarn was woven around furniture, in & out cabinet doors, etc. around the house. The child had to follow the "trail" left behind by the criminal. At the end of the trail (yarn) was a clue as to where the criminal would be. For example, the trail for the Joker ended at a clue that said "I like to play jokes on other folks Then hide when I am able. So get down on your hands and knees And look under the dining room table."  The child would then go to where the clue led them. I hid another clue at that spot (ex. Next clue for Joker was "You'd thought I'd be here, but I'm not! I played a joke on you again. Go look in the pantry inside the house To see my sinister grin!" 

At the next location, they found a card with the villain's picture on it with the word "CAPTURED" stamped across it in big red letters. Once the child found the villain, they brought it to me (the jailkeeper). I took their picture holding the card and then put it back into jail (an empty shoe box painted white with bars).  I had about 10 villains with clues & poems made up so each child could chase after their own criminal. (Their mom or dad helped them read the clues and decipher them). 

For the thank you notes, I make it look like the front page of a newspaper with a headline including the child's name (ex. John Smith Captures Dangerous Villain). I included a picture (I got a CD when the film was developed) of the child with the captured villain. The article describes how the superhero John Smith followed a trail that lead to the whereabouts of the criminal. The second article on the page describes how happy Carson was to receive an outstanding gift from John Smith and how much fun he had with his friends at his birthday party (i.e. the real thank you part of the note).  

The kids (and parents!) had a blast!