Television shows such as CSI (and the
subsequent CSI Miami and CSI New York), NCIS, and Cold Case
Files have made crime scenes and crime investigations the new
murder mystery parties. They are a great deal of fun when
properly planned and well executed but leave a lot of room for
failure if poorly planned or inflexible. If you are considering
a party such as this, a great party for teens and adults alike
be sure that you either have an actual mystery to solve as the
evening progresses or that you simply use the theme as a
backdrop. There is no real right or wrong way to do a birthday
party but if you want to throw the party that everyone will be
talking about you'll need to create a crime for the scene you're
investigating and leave clues all around to help with the
investigation.
Decorating your crime scene party can be a lot of fun with crime
scene tape and chalk outlines on the floor. Be sure to make them
realistic in size by having someone actually lay down for you to
draw the outline. You can leave fake footprints, fingerprints,
and clue cards throughout the room (not too well hidden unless
you want people snooping). You can even enlist plenty of help
when leaving the clues and decorating because of the novelty of
this sort of party. You do not have to limit the festivities to
one room and you can, if you are feeling truly adventurous, have
a different case going on in different rooms and have the kids
draw numbers for teams and race to solve the crime first.
You might also do well to set up a lab, complete with microscope
and tables dedicated to sorting out the evidence and make notes
for the shocking conclusion of the crimes in question. Of course
you will want to make the crimes simple and solvable by leaving
clues that the kids will have no trouble finding or deciphering
without making it too easy. Use your favorite episode for
inspiration if you must and throw in a red herring or two to
keep things fun. Young and old alike, the kids will have a good
time arguing over the clues and trying to determine who really
committed the crimes (and of course making up their assumptions
and stories as to why the crimes occurred in the first place).
For food you can have an actual CSI cake or go with cookies that
are shaped like footprints or thumb print cookies for an
excellent play on words. Of course by the time kids are old
enough to enjoy a party such as this they probably would be
happy with good food rather than themed food and pizza, sloppy
Joes, finger foods, chips and dips, and cookies and cake will
make an excellent food addition to the party without needing to
fit in with any one theme. Be sure to have plenty of pop and
bottled water on hand though because crime solving is thirsty
work.
In real life it is best to leave the jobs of solving crimes up
to the men and women who were trained to do so. In the world of
birthday parties however, crime solving and crime scene
investigating reign supreme as the next great thing in birthday
party ideas.
