Spy Party -10yr- Top Secret Stamp

I compiled some great ideas from this site and added my own. My daughter wanted a spy themed birthday.

INVITATIONS: we got a Top Secret" stamp in red ink made at Staples for $20 (well worth it) cut files down to fit a 6x9 envelopes with "Top Secret" on the front of the folder & envelopes. We used the CIA logo for the letter head and wrote " xxxxx has been selected to be a part of an Elite 10th Birthday Spy Training Camp. Should you decide to accept this mission please arrive promptly at 16:00 hours Saturday (date of your party) at Special Ops Training Headquarters: your address. The training and mission will be completed by 200:00 hours. Please be aware of the confidential nature of this invitation. If you cannot attend report your status by (date)to phone number or email address. Otherwise we look forward having you serve our country. Be prepared for anything! Sincerely (your name) Head of Special Ops Training California Division. Then I scrambled the birthday girl's name as the secret password to training camp. I have to say we heard that the girls were squealing in delight when they received the invites in the mail.

DECORATIONS: we kept it simple made a sign with CIA Headquarters and logo for the front door with an American flag. We turned the dining room in to a conference room covering our table with black tablecloth from Walmart (1.50) 2 American flags in narrow vases a globe a map of the world on the back wall bowls of chocolate that looks like rocks & kettle corn black notebooks pencils sleek VOSS water bottles. As the girls came in we had the Mission Impossible music going on in the background. As they said their password we would type their name on the lap top and on the screen would appear "ACCESS CONFIRMED" they started on a spy themed cross word puzzle and they waited for all the "trainees" to arrive. I also bought nylon bags at DAISO and had them write their names with glittery puffy paint which they later used to put all their favors in.

ACTIVITIES: this was the best part. After all the trainees assembled I started with a speech about the training camp and how this will test their intellectual physical and mental aptitude. We gave them Special Ops ID badges with their full names & photos on them. (we had the parents email the pictures before the party) and said if they did not pass the training they would have to turn in their badges.

1st part of training: TOTAL RECALL tray filled with spy gear cell phone compass GPS rope lighter flashlight etc. more than 15 items that they had 30 seconds to look at and then I covered it up and they had 2 minutes to write everything they could remember.

2nd relay race split into 2 teams (I had 12 girls) race to put on their disguises cap jacket moustache and then race back to the next person.

3rd part: shooting they used super soakers to knock empty plastic bottles off.

4th Target practice (my daughters painted a target in black paint with white rings and points). My daughter wanted to do a version of "pin the tale on the donkey" so we did round red stickers instead. If you have guns with targets that would be fun too.

5th part: LASER last was to test more of their physical dexterity. We used string in the hallway and they had to go from one end through the "laser" without touching it. The girls had the most fun with this.

Afterwards they all assembled back to the conference room and I congratulated them and gave them top secret folders with their acceptance letters and a their very first mission. We ran out of time but it would've been cool to do a video (kinda like the TV show Chuck) giving them their first assignment as agents. Since we had 12 girls and I wanted everyone to be part of the mission and not get lost in the crowd I divided all the clues up so that each girl would have to decode and then all assemble their clues together (I numbered each clue in order) to form a sentence.

1st part of mission: had them decode clues in pairs that led them to the front yard where I hid another set of individually wrapped clues in sealed snack bags in a plastic bucket filled with shaving cream. Each kid had to retrieve their clue which had the number in order to form a sentence. That led them to the park across the street which I accompanied them. While they were in training with my husband leading them I went to the park and put numbered file folders with Top Secret and the clues inside all around the tennis court. This time they had to decode the words and then put them in order that led them to the Amazon jungle/ jungle gym where they looked for a secret agent in a pink trench coat (my other daughter) who had they go across the monkey bars and then she gave them their final clue and weapon water guns. This was the hardest to decode and they worked in pairs.

Once all of the teams unscrambled and told me the clue led them back to Headquarters where the bomb was. That’s where they got a surprise attack from the enemy organization and were attacked by the super soakers. My husband and his friend led the chase to the back yard where the girls captured them and then tied them up to interrogate them and find out where the bombs where hidden and what wire they had to cut to diffuse it. (We made the bombs by putting 2 toilet paper rolls together and wrapping it with red tissue paper and then putting electrical tape around 3 dynamite and putting a kitchen clock and wires in a black box. ) It looked really cool.

FAVORS: the bag invisible pen with light fake moustache black cap notebook pencil and water gun.

FOOD: my daughter is tired of pizza so we made burgers on the grill and served it with fresh vegetables green beans carrots and red bell pepper. While my poor husband was flipping burgers the girls had celebratory mocktinis (sparkling pear cider with skewered green grape to look like olives) in real martini glasses (from Ikea almost as cheap as buying plastic ones but looks way better) then they watched the old TV episodes of Get Smart until dinner was ready. (the movie version of Get Smart was PG-13 and I wanted to keep it PG). You can also watch other spy movies like Spy Kids 1-3 Spy Next Door etc. I made red velvet cupcakes (her favorite) with cream cheese frosting and made dynamite from strawberry licorice and black licorice and put sparkling candles. It looked fabulous and the party was a HUGE success."