Here at SHOT, we love throwing a good kids’ party. As Creative Director for SHOT, I’m also a single mom of two boys, and our entire line of kids’ mysteries was created with my boys in mind. There are individual sections to help kids focus on and learn deductive thinking by investigating motive, means, and opportunity. We even have “Sleuth Flipbooks” designed to help smaller hands keep track of their investigation.

When I first embarked on creating a line of kids’ mystery party game kits, it was vital to me to create something aligned with the core principles of our adult murder mystery games – that no one would feel intimidated, uncomfortable, or worried about having to do something they didn’t want to do. That same commitment to “non-ridiculous” mystery investigation, paired with the desire to create games my own kids could enjoy at their birthday parties, led to the Shot In The Dark Mysteries kids’ party game kits!

Of course, the Host Guide for our kids’ mystery kits is available to read on our website before you make a purchase. But here are some extra tips and tricks from me, as well as other parents (plus a bonus tip from my youngest son), for hosting a kids’ mystery party from SHOT!

Get RSVPs in Advance

I always recommend getting the RSVPs first and then purchasing the package that fits. With any of our mystery kits, you need a minimum of six people to fill the suspect roles, and yes, an adult can DEFINITELY take on a role! I’ve done that so many times in a pinch, and I find that at that age, the kids don’t care if an adult is involved – they just want to have a good time. Plus, being personally involved in the action means you can help anyone who has a question or needs some guidance. We have digital invitations for all our mystery themes on the SHOT website so you can get them in advance and start inviting!

In our experience, it’s always a good idea to communicate to the parents the importance of their child actually attending if they RSVP ‘yes.’ Parenting is a crazy world, and sometimes things get chaotic even for the best of us. But with a mystery game, you need those playing a suspect to be there, or things can get complicated. Communicating the importance of their child showing up usually helps parents understand that cancelling because the Costco line was too long and they didn’t budget their time properly isn’t ideal for your child’s mystery party day (this has happened to me). But, as we all know, sometimes life with kids gets crazy.

When I throw a kids’ party, I usually have at least one other parent in attendance to help out and offer moral support. There’s an added bonus – they can also take on a role if necessary!

If you or another adult needs to take on a role, try to make it a “3” role (when you purchase the package, your Suspect List in your Host Materials gives you a Character Complexity Rating for each suspect to help you assign roles). If you have to, you can take on a “3” role that’s a bit less complicated, so you can still manage everyone, run the party, and answer questions in your suspect role.

Set a Deadline for RSVPs

This is one of my top party tips in general but is especially useful for kids’ mystery parties. On the invitation, set a deadline for RSVPing. Does this mean that if one child’s parents don’t RSVP by the date they can’t come? Absolutely not! Our format is perfect for having a set number of “Suspects” and an unlimited number of “Sleuths,” so if they can’t quite commit, they can still attend and be fully immersed in the mystery if they’re able to make it!

Deciding the Timing

There’s a timing chart laid out in your Host Guide to help you figure out your timing, but ultimately, this is your party, and you’re in control! What I find with kids is that you can’t let any one activity go on for too long, or they squirrel. If you’ve allotted 30 minutes for the “Motive” portion of the mystery but they seem ready to move on after 25, bring everyone back together for the introduction to the next section. It’s better to keep them hopping than to have them start throwing things around the room (moms of boys… am I right?).

Kids’ attention spans are shorter than ours, which is why our kids’ mysteries break the investigation into three different parts: Motive, Means, and Opportunity. This gives the kids something to focus on for a short period of time (e.g., 20-30 minutes, depending on how many guests you have) to keep them on track before introducing something new. The audio files at the start of each section bring everyone back together to regroup from their questioning, keeping the focus sharp and introducing a new element periodically to keep kids engaged!

Keep Their Eyes on the Prize – Literally!

This is definitely one of the best parts of any of our kids’ parties – PRIZES! I’m not just saying that. I consulted my now 13-year-old, and we talked about some of his and his friends’ favorite things about their birthday mystery parties over the years. They all said it was the chance to win prizes!

Winning prizes is very effective during a kids’ mystery party! (Let’s be real, it’s also very effective during a regular murder mystery party as well). The idea that they’ll go home with some hardware or something fun is so tantalizing to them. I’ve made trophies for Best Sleuth, Best Suspect, and more! I’ll have draws from everyone’s Accusation Forms for all kinds of things, usually something in line with the theme of the mystery. Once, I had gold playing cards (made of real gold) as the top prize, and they all went crazy trying to solve the mystery to win the grand prize!

Before You Begin, Tell Everyone to Go Pee

I’ve found that when the mystery portion of the party begins, suddenly every kid has to pee. They’ll all be like, “I have to go to the bathroom! Can I get a drink? There’s no more root beer; so-and-so drank it all. Can you go to the store and get more?” etc. So, I like to make an announcement to everyone about 10 minutes before we get started and tell them to use the bathroom and get drinks/snacks as they like so they can sit quietly while the Announcement of Murder/Instructions/Suspect Introductions are going on. (And no, I can’t go get more root beer – haha).

Plan To Be Completely Available for the First Five Minutes

In any mystery party, adult or kids’, the first five minutes are usually a bit slow on the investigation front as people begin questioning with their Starter Questions (given in the Announcement of Murder/Theft) and start getting the hang of how it all works. After that five minutes, though, everyone realizes how straightforward the questioning process is, and they’re off and running with their investigations! So, after the introduction is played (mp3 files) or read (transcript of those mp3 files), it’s a good idea to stick around as they start to get familiar with the question-and-answer format to help anyone who needs it (usually, I find this is just encouraging them to ask each other the starter questions). Then, once they get used to it, I can usually sneak off to the kitchen to replenish the snack table.

Know When to Call It – Don’t Let It Run Too Long

The key to keeping anyone’s attention is to keep things moving. Once you set out your timing, stick to it to keep the kids on track. I like to tell people ahead of time how much time they have for each section – it creates a really fun race-against-the-clock feel to the investigations! Then, about five minutes before we regroup and move on to the next part of the investigation, I’ll announce that they have five minutes left to finish up their questions and come sit down for the introduction to the next section. Often, I’ll get screams from the kids as they realize they have to find that one suspect whose alibi they need to verify!

One question I get often is about overwhelm for those kids who are maybe a bit more shy, new to the group, or don’t know many others at the party. There’s nothing in the mystery itself that will create overwhelm – it’s really straightforward. With the SHOT format, they are looking for the person who had the motive, means, and opportunity. They have to interact with each other and question one another, so there’s nothing intimidating to do. I know some mystery packages have lines to perform, scenes to act out, and other things that can be really intimidating, but our format is completely different. For those who relish the spotlight, they can really have fun with their character and information, but for those who are more shy or subdued, there’s nothing in the materials that will make them feel uncomfortable.

We Are Here To Help!

Of course, we are always here to help you with any questions you might have about how to throw a kids’ mystery party! Ready to get started? Check out our kids’ mystery packages here!