Double Agent Party -10yr- CIA Training

I decided to have a double agent party for my son since he was turning the big double digit of ten.  I started out by copying the logo of the CIA onto a form letter for the invitation. 

The invitation read like this: Dear Sir: I am writing to you today on behalf Mr. Michael Hayden, head of the Central Intelligence Agency.  We have had a recent breach of security involving counter spying, otherwise known as double agents.  We need new agents, which have not been corrupted, to apply in person to be trained as agents and sent out on a highly dangerous mission.  Should you wish to accept this invitation, please arrive promptly at the following address at the date and time given. CIA Special Training Headquarters, Colorado Division (son's house) Address City, Colorado Saturday, September 27, 2008 14:00 Hours (2 PM) The training and the mission should be completed by 18:00 hours (4 pm) and you will be immediately sent home upon arrival of your transport.  Please be aware of the confidential nature of this invitation and send your prompt reply to Ginger, Head of Special Training in Colorado, at 303-xxx-xxxx.  We send out our appreciation of your consideration on this matter and look forward to hearing from you by September 20th.  Thank you. Ginger (Mom & birthday planner) Head of Special Training, CIA, Colorado Division  I put the invitation into manilla envelopes and wrote the boys names as well as a big red confidential on the outside.   Once the invitation was sent, we collected different spy gear to be used in the party.  We found two sets of walkie talkies, two cameras, two flashlights, two night vision binoculars, two sets of sunglasses, and two sets of fake mustaches.  These were used in their separate missions.  I also found a Highlights Spy Kit.  It was full of different puzzles, matching and decoding pages.

For decorations I set up our long table by putting a black plastic table cloth over it.  I pinned up a world map and put up a white board that we would use for the clues that we found.  I took the spy kit and broke it up into the separate pages and put them into black folders.  These were placed in front of each chair with a pen, a notebook, and a clear glass of water.  I had a clear pitcher of water on the table as well.  It looked like an official board room. I also had Mission Impossible music playing in the background. When the boys came in I took their picture on my digital camera, then told them to take a seat at the table.  I was dressed in a suit and was playing the head of the CIA training division.  I introduced myself to them, explained the seriousness of their mission, and that they would need to pass the training before we could send them into the field.  They worked out their different challenges finding out the who, what and where of the spy kit.  While they were working, my husband printed out their pictures on glossy photo paper. After they finished their training we gave them their ID badges and passports.  We used navy blue lanyards and printed out tags that had a space for their photo, fingerprint, name and code name.  It also had the CIA logo on it. 

To make the passports I copied a real passport cover and printed it on cardstock.  In the inside I left a space on the left for the photo, and had them fill out their names, country of origin, and address.  On the right side I created two boxes that were used as their passport stamp spaces.  Below that I printed out a thank you note from my son, which he filled out at the time of receiving the presents.  Once the boys had filled out their passports and ID's and glued in their photos, they were ready to go on thier missions.

I called the agents up in pairs and presented them with a manilla envelope with the first part of their mission enclosed, as well as their specific spy gear for their mission.  They were sent out one team at a time. The letters read like this: Attention Agents: You have been assigned your first mission, if you choose to accept it.  This is one of great importance, as we are in the process of rooting out the double agents within our agency.  No one can be trusted.  Your first step in completing the assigned mission is to meet one of the field agents in the following location.  Take the first available transport to your country as listed below.  One of the agents will be there to give you the next step in your mission.  Do not open the letter in front of anyone but your assigned co-agent.  You will be given special spy gear to assist you in your task.  It is up to you to not be swayed by the lure of foreign enterprises and to remain true to the United States of America.  We are counting on you to bring back information regarding the identity of the double agents.  Good luck. Leave: City, Colorado  Arrive: London, England Meeet Agent(friend's name) at the Dorchester restaurant at 15:00 hours, Colorado time.  He will give you the needed information to continue your mission. 

My daughter and her friend were dressed as field agents.  I took two gray t-shirts, printed out the CIA logo on iron on transfer paper and put them on their shirts.  I gave them special spy sunglasses and black rubber bracelets (these were important later). They were the ones who lead them on their missions and met them at the specific locations.  We wrote out four different letters with different real locations of different restaurants for each of the set of agents. We made our stairs into a plane using sheets, a chair and even a portable DVD player that they watched Spy Kids on while they were flying.  My husband was the pilot.  He told them when they arrived at their country and stamped their passports.  We found country stickers with several different countries on them and used these as the passport stamps. The first stop was at the specific restraunt in their first country. 

We set up a table with a table cloth, center piece which involved the different flags from the different countries.  We also had music from each country playing.  One of the field agents met them with a different letter and candy from the specific country.  For example: England- Wurther's Caramels, Harry Potter music, British flag Agentina- Bon Bon Candies(made in Argentina), Tango music, Argentine flag Germany- Riesen Chews, German classical music, German flag Japan- Poco Sticks, Zen Garden music, Japanese flag The second letter that they received gave them their next location as well as the clue that they were looking for.  They went to four different countries which we set up around our house.  We used larger flags and put them on the specific doors.  Each room had music from the country as well as decor from the specific location. 

Here is the list of countries in the second part: Cairo, Egypt- we used our crawl space to set up like the inside of a pyramid.  They had to use the night vision glasses as well as flashlights to find a coded letter. Amazon Jungle, Brazil- they had to look out of the window in the room which was decorated like a rainforest with bird sounds playing in the background.  The double agents ran past the window dressed in black, and the agents used their cameras to take their (the double agent's) picture.  We printed out the piture at head quarters. Shagnhai, China- this room was decorated to look like a Chinese hotel room.  They used their walkie talkies to over hear a conversation held between the Double Agents. St. Petersburg, Russia-  this room was decorated to look like a Russian opera house.  They had to wear their sunglasses and mustache disguises to sneak into the back stage and find what they Double Agents had left behind. 

These were the black bracelets and special sunglasses that our field agents were wearing earlier. Once they collected their evidence they came back to head quarters, shared the candy from the different countries and started putting the clues together.  They worked on decoding the Egypt letter while the other teams were in the field. Once they figured out that my daughter and her friend, aka the field agents, were the double agents, they all grabbed them and put them into the secure holding room (the laundry room). We celebrated our victory by eating a bomb cake.  I used a ball cake pan to cook a chocolate cake.  I put it on a black plate, then frosted it with dark grey icing.  Finally I place a curling yellow candle on the top to look like the wick.  When we lit it, the boys told my son to blow it out quick before it exploded!   We opened presents last, and my son had each of the boys give him their passports when they brought him their present.  He filled out his thank you in the space that we had made for the thank you in their passport and signed it.  When the boys went home, they all ready had their thank you card/passport in hand as well as their cool spy gear, notebooks, pens, folders, and ID badges.  It was a great party, and all the boys were thrilled as well as exhausted!