Spiderman Mystery 5yr - Web Wrap

This is the outline for my son's Spiderman party that we threw him for his 5th birthday.  It was a big hit with most of his guest although one little boy was a little scared even though we assured him that this was just a pretend mystery.  This may be more suited for 6 years and up, but most of the boys at the party thought it was the best one they had ever been to. 

When the guests arrived, they all played with my son's toys until everyone was accounted for. As soon as all of the children had arrived, we had them clean up the toys played with, and gather around me for a short Spiderman story (picked up at Target called "I am Spiderman".  You could also just make up your own.) While I was reading, my husband set everything out for the craft. 

As soon as I finished reading the Spiderman story, I then introduced the mystery by telling the kids about a rash of break-ins in the neighborhood, and of how I wondered if it could be the Green Goblin.  I then told them about the gold that I have hidden im my safe.  I impressed upon them that I knew the Green Goblin could never break into MY safe. 

I then asked them if they would like to see my gold, and took them all to my small fire safe, and made a big production of unlocking it and of how big and heavy it was.  When I finally opened it, we found that the gold had been stolen, and that a note had been left in it's place.  The note said:  "HA HA HA! I'VE GOT YOUR GOLD -- YOUR LITTLE HEADS ARE ALL FILLED WITH MOLD!  YOU LITTLE KIDS CAN NEVER STOP ME -- I'M THE GREEN GOBLIN CAN'T YOU SEE?". 

CRAFT: We then talked about how we were going to have to solve this mystery ourselves because Spiderman was not able to be there.  We decided that we were going to need some sort of crime fighting tool in order to catch the Green Goblin.  This led us into the craft time where we made homemade "web slingers".  I used blue and red fingerless mittens (Walmart) and different colored yarn which I cut beforehand to a good length (12-18") and knotted bunches of the lengths together (4-5 strands each)whith each bunch knotted at one end.  I then stuffed each mitten with balls of newspaper to prevent the paint from seeping through to the other side. 

At the party, during the craft time, my husband hot glued one knotted bunch of string to the underside of each half finger on the mitten to use for the slinging webs.  We then let the child choose fabric paint to make spiders with small stencils, or let them draw spider webs on the back of the hand part of the mitten.  They then got to pick out buttons and fake gems to be used for super power buttons i.e. for speed, invisibility, etc.  You really need to make sure that the paint is applied fairly thinly so that they dry in time to take them home.  If you have the help or the time, you could help speed the drying process up by using a blow dryer to dry them. 

GAME: After we finished craft time, I had my husband stand in another room and pop a balloon with another note taped to it, and then he hid so that they would think that it might have been the Green Goblin.  When we all ran to see what the noise was, they found a note which said: "YOU THINK THAT NOW YOU CAN STOP THE GREAT GREEN GOBLIN? SOME WEB-SLINGING PRACTICE IS WHAT YOU WILL NEED, IF YOU EVER HOPE TO ACCOMPLISH THE DEED!" My husband then took the children into the living room for some web-slinging "practice" (the game).  During this time, I cleaned up from the craft and got the table set for lunch.  For the game, the children divided up into 2 teams, each having one designated pretend "Villain".  The rest of the team had to use their roll of "web" (toilet paper) to try to wrap up their villain first from the neck down, before the other team.  We did not give out prizes for the team that won - the joy and adulation of being the winners would have to be enough.  I have to note though, that we did have some reluctance as far as volunteers for the villains, and that the toilet paper did tear frequently.  I'm not sure how this could have been resolved. 

LUNCH:  After such hard web-slinging practice, I suggested that we take a well-deserved break and eat some pizza.  The children all took seats in the kitchen and ate.  While they were eating, my husband snuck out, and began hiding all of the presents that the children had brought for my son, in our downstairs family room.  This is the only part of the party that the birthday boy knew about ahead of time to avoid genuine fear of stolen presents. 

PRESENT HUNT:  After they had all finished with lunch, I suggested that we all go and open the birthday boy's presents.  When we got out into the living room where all of the presents had been, we discovered that they had all been stolen and found a note in their place.  The note said: "NOW I'VE GOT THE PRESENTS TOO AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU LITTLE KIDS CAN DO.  YOU COULD NEVER FIND ALL OF MY HIDING PLACES; I'VE HIDDEN THEM ALL IN DEEP DARK SPACES!".  The kids all then proceeded to go on a present hunt to find all of the missing gifts.  While the kids were searching, my husband did a quick lunch cleanup and re-set the table for cake and ice-cream.  When all of the presents were found and brought upstairs to the living room, the birthday boy opened them and of course, they all had a blast playing with the new gifts for a while. 

CAKE:  After all of the presents were opened we announced that it was time for us all to go back into the kitchen for cake and ice cream.  At this time, my husband went off into the garage, and got dressed in his "Green Goblin" costume.  This costume consisted of a large black cape, with a glow in the dark green mask. 

THE CAPTURE:  When the cake and ice cream were just about finished, we heard a noise outside, and when we looked out of the window, we found the "Green Goblin" taunting us with the bag of gold!  I used an old velvet jewelry bag and put enough fake coins and pyrite gold (bought cheaply at Michael's) for each child to take some home in their goody bags.  The children ran for the back door, but by the time they had gotten it opened, the Goblin had run to the front window and taunted them there.  He then proceeded to run through the house with a band of yelling boys hot on his trail!  They tackled the Goblin and grabbed the gold before unmasking him, and finding my husband.  They had so much fun doing this, that they made my husband re-mask and do it again and again.  My poor husband was such a good sport and was lucky to make it through the party with all his parts in working order!     

The parents of the children all arrived at the tail end of them capturing my husband for the fourth time, and as they left each got a goody bag with their gold, their web-slinger, Spiderman stickers, some candy and a Spiderman wall walker (Target).  It was a great party and it was really fun to see their reactions to each new phase of the mystery.